CHAPTER IV

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Acquaintance with the contribution of previous

investigations will broaden the perspective and deepen the
understanding of the researchers. With this objective in
mind, some related studies have been reviewed and the gist
has been presented in this chapter.
1
Durairaj studied fish production, marketing,
income distribution between catamaran and mechanised boat
operators and issues in the choice of technology in the
marine fishing industry in the Thanjavur district in 1981.

The author analysed the fish marketing system and

price behaviour of fish in the Thanjavur district. The
perishable nature of fish and its heterogeneous character
rendered marketing difficult.

According to the author, the fishermen in Thanjavur

district lacked market consciousness with regard to
efficient and gainful marketing. They were forced to sell
the catch immediately after landing the craft. Auction
was the common mode of sale and fish was sold in auction
by lots and eye estimation was the popular method of
weighment in the sea-shore. The auctioneer was paid
 116

Re. 1 per heap by the buyer. The middlemen played an

important role in fish trade.

The author made an intensive study of the spatial

price spread and marketing margins of a few selected
species of fish between the shore at Nagapattinam and
Thanjavur Serfoji Municipal Fish Market. Price data on
selected species of fish namely anchoviella, pomf ret, seer
fish and mackerel were collected during June 1989 from the
fishermen and traders at the landing centres at Nambiyar
Nagar, Keechamkuppam, and Akkarapettai villages in
Nagapattinam Taluk and from the retail traders in
Thanjavur Serfoji Municipal Fish Market in Thanjavur.

The author estimated that the fishermen got 58.35

per cent, 57.89 per cent, 55.55 per cent and 57.14 per
cent of the prices paid by the consumers for anchoviella,
pomf ret, seer fish and mackerel respectively. He drew two
important inferences.

1) Whether the fishermen caught "high unit value"

species like pomfret or seer fish, or "low unit value"
species like anchoviella or mackerel, his share in the
prices paid by the consumers for the various species
remained more or less constant. In his study, the
fishermen's share ranged from 55 per cent to 58 per cent
of the price paid by the consumer.
 117

2) Whether the retailer sold a basket of "high unit

value" species or "low unit value" species, he got only a
fixed Commission of Rs. 10.

The author attempted to find out the rate. of

returns on the total amount of money invested in buying
and transporting four baskets of fish from Nagapattinam to
Thanjavur. He calculated that for an investment of Rs.
411.25, the wholesaler got a return of Rs. 213.75 per day
which formed 51.85 per cent of the investment. T1$
marketing expenses like wages, interest and cost of ice
were Rs. 107.36 and the balance of Rs. 106.39 constituted
the net returns to the wholesaler. Assuming that the
wholesaler was able to run business for 200 days in a
year, his returns amounted to Rs. 5174 per annum for an
investment of Rs. 100. Such high returns for an
investment of Rs. 100 could not be justified on economic
and social grounds.

The author felt that there was an urgent need to

improve the system of fish marketing. It should ensure
atleast 75 per cent instead of 57 per cent of the consumer
rupee to fishermen. The fishermen Co-operative societies
must ensure careful handling and storage, quick and cheap
transport and profitable sales. The government should
adopt a scheme of "Quick Transport Facility" by providing
 118

atleast one refrigerated van to each of the maritime taluk

so that 8 to 15 important landing centres could be covered
everyday.
2
Rao made a study on Fishery Economics and
Management in India.

He observed that fish marketing in India was very

primitive and traditional one which had not been improved
very much, despite some efforts that had been taken by the
state departments and a few other agencies. Besides these
traditional practices, there was no free entry in the fish
marketing since old merchants did not allow new persons
into the trade. Moreover, the product was handled by a
large number of middlemen who were not real producers and
who operated in between wholesale and retail markets.
From the field surveys, it was observed that in some
cases there were big margins of net profits ranging from
100 to 200 per cent over the purchase price and marketing
costs. Therefore, there was no fair and perfect
competition in some fish market. It was usually these
markets or producing centres which faced either with the
monopsonistjc or monopolistic method of control over fish
supplies.

Rao added that unlike the marketing of agricultural

and manufacturing goods, the fish marketing was not an
 119

easy task as it had to face many peculiar and special

problems at different stages of production and marketing
management. With greater uncertainties in production,
high p erishability of fish, assembling of fish from too

many scattered coastal landing places, too many species

and therefore too many demand patterns, wide fluctutions
in price, adjustments of supplying fish evenly without
affecting demand, quality of fish, and transportation of
fish in specialised means of vehicles were the greater
sources of irritations and bottlenecks which often made
fish marketing much more difficult.

An efficient fish marketing system developed on

modern methods was the lever to bring rapid changes in the
functions of production and consumption needs of a
society. Therefore, Rao argued for modernising fish
marketing on scientific lines so as to mGet the existing
demand for fish, besides tapping the potential demand in
the important markets. The modern trend was to sell
chilled fish along with other processed fish products such
as fish cans, deep frozen products and prepacked fish
fillets in super markets. Thus markete-had to design the
new product features, developing a package and brand name,
pricing the product to get a better return on investment,
arranging the internal and international distribution of
processed fish products. For the new products constant
 120

advertising had to be done so that the public were aware

about the new products. This naturally necessitated the
adoption of modern technological methods in the fish
marketing management which meant more sale of fish and
reducing further the wastage of fish.

In many advanced countries, the improved marketing

methods that were adopted in fish marketing were partly
responsible for bringing rapid changes in the development
of fisheries. A progressive marketing organisation would
provide adequate return to the primary producer, though
consumers' interests were not neglected. It was also
necessary to see that what was produced, was matched with
demand so that regularity of high supplies could be
maintained.

Seasonality of fish production, besides being

difficult to control, had also limited the possibilities
for marketing the fish throughout the year unless it was
frozen, dried or smoked or canned.

Rao suggested that the concept of modern marketing

system could be improved by adopting the process of
management. The adoption of management techniques would
naturally evolve strategy for the development of fish
sales. These strategies included market penetration,
market development, product development, diversification
 121

of sales, market entry strategy, marketing-mix strategy

and timing strategy.
3
Kurien conducted a study of the marketing of
marine fish inside Kerala State. In order to understand
the mode of selling, the nature of purchases, the mode of
transport and the final markets of fish, he monitored the
physical flows of over 20,000 lots of fish accounting for
a total quantity of over 1600 tonnes during 1980-81 with
the help of another research organisation.

While analysing the factors affecting market

structure, he found that the market structure at any given
landing place was determined by factors like the main
group of species landed, the accessibility of the sea
shore, the number and the type of buyers, the mode of
selling, the socio - religious customs and the proximity
of consumption centres.

According to him, in Kerala, the pattern of

marketing structure and linkages were greatly conditioned
by the structure of the pattern of fish production.
Another important factor that influenced the levels of
relationships that made up the marketing structure was the
mode of selling or more precisely the organisation of
transactions between fishermen and buyers.
 122

Regarding the buyers of fish, John Kurien said that

they were generally women or men who distribute fish by
head load, men who use cycles, wholesale merchants who use
lorries and a limited number of other hawkers and agents
of exporting firms. The type and the number of buyers as
well as the mode of disposal of the fish both had a
bearing on price and the earnings of the fishermen.

While explaining the factors affecting high prices,

Kurien said that the differences in fish price reflected
variations in the species composition of the landings. He
compared the fish prices in districts like Trivandrum,
Quilon, Alleppy, Kozhicode and Cannanore. He observed
that average fish price was the highest in Quilon district
where lobster fishing, trawling for prawns and large mesh
gill netting for high quality fish were predominant among
the monitored fishing operations. The higher average fish
price in Trivandrum district compared to Alleppy,
Kozhicode and Cannanore districts, according to him, was
the result of factors like closeness to the state capital
city with high and middle, income consumers, relatively
higher landings of high quality fish such as seer, tuna,
cuttle fish etc., existence of fishermen co-operatives and
high degree of competition.

The analysis of the mode of selling made by him

revealed that auctioning and bargaining were the most
 123

common practices for disposing of fish in the sea shores

of Kerala. Fixed pricing of fish was only with respect to
exportable species such as prawn and cuttle fish. Here
again prices were fixed for a day or two - rarely for a
long period. This had been a new trend and was noticed
when some fishermen's organisations had insisted on it.

Regarding the purchases, Kurien said that for the

state as a whole 77 per cent of the purchasing was
effected directly by those who also subsequently transport
the fish for further sales. He assumed that the middlemen
and agents might have mediated the transactions but did
not come to have ownership of the fish. He said that one
herd of the purchases was made by middlemen and agents and
the role of co-operatives was negligible.

Regarding the mode of transporting fish, Kurien

said that the main modes of transport of fish from sea
shore to markets were: by head or shoulder load; by cycle;
by lorry and in some locations by train and boats. Over
one third of the fish landed in Kerala was first
transported by individuals either on their heads,
shoulders and bi-cycles. Sixty per cent was moved by
lorry, jeep, van etc., He found that atleast 90 per cent
of the internally marketed fish in Kerala was handled by
individual small scale distributors.
 124

Kurien analysed the final markets, where the fish

was transported. He categorised the final destinations as
neighbouring centres (with 20 kms radius of the landing
centre); distant (beyond 20 kms); and export (outside the
country). He observed that at the state level, about one
third of the fish moved within 20 kms from the point of
initial sale on the shore.

Kurien made a detailed analysis of the women fish

distributors, cycle load distributors and wholesale lorry
merchants in the selected centres of the districts. He
studied the working capital availability, sources of
capital, volume of trade, distance covered, marketing
cost, marketing margin etc., of the above key participants
in fish marketing. He found that in the case of short
distance, movements of fish by small distributors,
irrespective of the pattern of production, the share of
the fishermen in the consumer rupee ranged between 75 - 90
per cent. He noted that the share of the fishermen on the
wholesale rupee was between 65 to 70 per cent. By
extending this chain to the consumer, he found that the
fishermen's share in the consumer rupee was between 45 to
50 per cent. If the fishermen were to get more of the
other half of the consumer rupee, they should be released
from the hands of the money lenders, middlemen and
merchants. So it was basically a power struggle between
 125

those who controlled the means of production and the

market and those who laboured to catch the fish.

Kurien opined that the wholesale fish market was

the key institution in the fish marketing operations in
Kerala and commission agents who had controlled it, were
the kingpins. He chose the Connemara wholesale Fish
Market, Trivandrum for the study. He estimated that
during the year 1980, 7150 tonnes of fish valued at Rs.15
million was transacted through the wholesale market. The
sale was mediated by 6 commission agents at the rate of
commission of 5 per cent. On the average day, there were
about 400 retail buyers - cycle load distributors and
women fish distributors. About 38 per cent of the fish
available in the market came from Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu.

For both the sellers and the buyers the entry of

the commission agent as a social and economic buffer was
considered a useful and economic one. He played the
crucial role of matching the bulk arrivals with the
perceived needs of the buyers.

To Kurien, the mechanism of price setting in a

wholesale market was a complex and intricate process. The
objective conditions of the variable supply measured by
fish arrivals by lorry and the more or less constant
 126

demand were the crucial determinants of a particular day's

price for a particular species of fish. Given these
conditions, the variability in quality also influenced the
price.

In order to analyse the control of fishermen over

marketing, Kurien said that factors like level of
technology, the nature of fish as a commodity, the closely
enmeshed social and economic relations between producers,
traders and middlemen and the character of the market for
the fish needed to be examined.

Since the fishermen had surplus fish even at very

low levels of technology with very low productivity, they
were forced to exchange fish either by barter or cash in
order to obtain other commodities. The perishable nature
of fish gave further impetus to the emergence and
hastening of trade. The high cost associated with storage
of fish also forced them to sell it immediately. The
perpetual harvesting nature of fishing and the free good
nature of fish made it difficult for the producer to
attribute a cost to it. He said that the main factor
affecting the emergence of a certain pattern and structure
in the fish trade was caused by the physical patterns of
production.
 127

Kurien also reviewed the attempts made by fishermen

to organise themselves to take control of their produce
and exports with regard to different countries like
Canada, Norway etc., In Travancore fishermen organisation
were started as early as 1917. He referred to the
Travancore Co-operative Enquiry Report of 1934 which
revealed how the fishermen organisation in Arur resisted
the effects of the middlemen and merchants and sold their
catches collectively. But the fishermen of Arur did not
continue to take such unilateral action to gain control
over their catch for fear that the merchants would take
legal action against them for the money they had borrowed
pledging to sell fish through them only.

He also examined the fishermen co-operatives set up

after the formation of the state of Kerala. The
facilities provided to fishermen to set up co-operatives
were usurped by the middlemen and merchants also who
earlier exploited them. The co-operatives, instead of
becoming organisational set up to liberate the fishermen,
became a tool by which they could be further exploited and
cheated. Thus, the experience of this period had made the
word "Operative" among fishermen attain an odour worse
than that of rotten fish.
4
Sunimal Fernando conducted a research study of the
marketing system in the small scale fishery of Sri Lanka.
 128

The study examined the general hypothesis that conditions

of monopsony and oligopsony characterised the fish
marketing structure in Sri Lanka at various stages of
marketing, and that as a result, the marketing structure
should be held responsible for the low prices received by
the fishermen and the high prices paid by the consumers of
fish. This hypothesis suggested that middlemen- traders
earned excess or abnormal profits and the system was
structured by the ability of the middlemen traders to
constrain the entry of potential competitors into the
system through high capital or skill requirements, through
natural monopoly due to economies of scale, or else
through the operation of formal or informal barriers
including threats of violence.

The study tested this hypothesis by evaluating the

cost of operation of two different types of middlemen the
assemblers and the retailers, the return on their capital
and management compared to their respective opportunity
costs, and the levels of pure profit earned.

The study also investigated whether a monopsonitic

- oligopsonistic situation prevailed generally among
assemblers while a more competitive system operated among
fish traders.
 129

According to the author, the fish marketing system

in Sri Lanka operated through a set of intermediaries
performing useful commercial functions in a chain
formation all the way from the producer to the final
consumer. The commercial units comprised the fish
marketing system which could be grouped into three
categories, fish assemblers, fish wholesalers, and fish
retailers.

The study conducted that the degree of monopsony-

oligopsony in the fish marketing system was a function of
the barriers to entry into marketing system.

There could be economic barriers arising out of

capital requirements and natural monopoly due to economics
of scale, as well as management barriers derived from
specialized skill requirements and physical barriers
sanctioned by local power structures.

The number of fish assembles - wholesalers

operating in each of the 12 fishing villages studied,
indicated that physical barriers to entry seemed not to
exist in a manner detrimental to the interests of
fishermen and there were substantial numbers varying
between 25 and 75 of assemblers operating at most of the
sampling villages. The number of wholesalers were so
large that price-fixing on the part of assembles as a
group was not practically feasible.
 130

The author also examined the distribution of gross

incomes, net incomes, and the capital value of assets of
fish assembler. This would indicate the degree to which
economic barriers constrained the equitable sharing of
fish assembler activity among the participants.

The empirical study proved that income as well as

capital assets were distributed evenly among assemblers.
It suggested the functioning of a more competitive system
of fish trading in the assembling sector rather than of a
monopsonjstjc - cligopsonistjc one.

In the coastal districts, retailers of these

various types came to the fish trading centres and made
their purchases from the producers and sometimes from the
assemblers. The different sub divisions of the retail
fish marketing sector competed with each other to attract
customers. The customer's choice regarding the source
from which to buy the requirements of fish would be guided
by three criteria - price, quality and convenience. Fish
retailers also competed with each other on these criteria.
Given the large number of fish retailers operating in
competition with each other in any given coastal area,
oligoploistic practices such as price collusion could not
prevail in the fish retail sector of the fish producing
districts of Sri Lanka.
 131

According to the author, the distribution of gross

income, net income and capital assets of retailers
indicated the level of economic participation by different
fish retailers.

There was considerable spread of gross and net

incomes among fish retailers. Thus, there was little
indication of monopsonistjc or oligopsonistjc tendencies
in the retail fish - marketing sector.
Thus, the study showed that conditions conducive to
the existence of monopsonistic - oligopsonistic marketing
practices did not exist, by and large, in either the fish
assembling or the fish retailing sectors. But it also
indicated the existence of pure or monopoly profits of
fairly substantial magnitude in the various types of fish
assembling and retailing. This apparent contradiction was
explained by the fact that pure or monopoly profit
included rents of ability and premium for risk.

In conclusion, the study did not examine the

question of technical efficiency in the marketing system
and its effects on fish prices, and the effects on prices
of possible inefficiencies resulting from poor handling,
transport and storage, limitations of chilling facilities,
and failure to use commercially possible by-products fall
outside its scope. Economic transactions at the wholesale
fish market and the hinterland (interior) retail markets
 132

were also not studied. Similarly, supply of inputs by

middlemen was not considered.
5
Librero made a critical analysis of the fish
marketing system in the Philippines. He opined that
several studies had shown that for all sectors in
Philippines fisheries, market structure could be
classified as oligopolistic.

He explained that the number of fish sellers in the

fish marketing set-up in fish landing and marketing
centres were very small compared to the number of buyers.
Different species of fish varied in size and degree of
freshness. Moreover, there existed barriers to entry and
exit of producers and brokers at different levels due to
the need for a licence and the high capital requirement.

The oligopolist market structure made it possible

for the sellers (producers and brokers) to have their own
pricing policies. Factors which influenced prices were
credit standing, honesty, bargaining, power, the usual and
actual quantity of purchases (lot size), the type of
buyer, the quantity of fish supply by species and in the
aggregate, fish species, the seller from whom fish was
bought. Other factors considered were the expenses
incurred in fishing operations, the actual cost incurred
in getting their fish supply and the prevailing market
price.
 133

He observed that the common practice was to

concentrate on the production side and relegate marketing
to representatives or agents, called the brokers.

With regard to the methods of sales, the common

practices were auction sales, contract sale and first-
come-first served basis. Large volume of fish was sold
through auction. Bidding might be open or secret with the
latter being widely practised. Secret bidding was done by
prospective buyer declaring his bid by whispering the
price he wanted to buy. After receiving some bids the
seller awarded the fish lot to the successful buyer.
Contract sale was instituted through pre-agreed terms of
sale and payment between the buyer and the seller. This
assured the producers of a definite outlet and buyers of a
fish supply. When sellers had established fixed price
quotations for their fish lot, sale was awarded to the
first buyer who agreed to buy the lot.

According to the author, several problems

confronted the fish marketing system in the philippines.
First was the lack of fish landing areas. On several
designated landing areas however, facilities such as
ports, ice plants and cold storage facilities were
inadequate.

The second problem was inefficient collection and

distribution of fish which resulted in areas of fish
 134

surpluses and areas of deficit with consequent large scale

price differential. Establishing fish plants or
collection centres in surplus areas and refrigerated
courier linking surplus to deficit areas could help
rationalise distribution.

A third problem was the involvement of a long chain

of middlemen in fish trading. Although middlemen were
necessary, they tended to inflate marketing costs. A
recent unpublished study of the Philippines Fish Marketing
Authority (PFMA) showed that fish was traded atleast four
times before it reached the consumer. In the process,
price increased by as much as 200 per cent. Quality of
fish also suffered because of the long marketing chain.

The author concluded by stating that Philippines

Fish Marketing Authority (PFMA) was intended to promote
the development of the fishing industry and improve
efficiency in fish handling, preservation, marketing and
distribution through the establishment and operation of
fish market and efficient operation of fishing ports,
harbours and the marketing facilities.
6
Srinivasan in his study found that marine fish
marketing in Tamil Nadu was multi-dimensional, covering
402 coastal villages and their 342 fish landing centres;
it involved a lot of concentration and dispension
activities inter-linked with distribution channels which
 135

played a vital role in the context of anticipated demand,

but uncertain supply of fish. He added that there were
four types of markets - fresh fish wholesale, fresh fish
retail, dry fish wholesale and dry fish retail. It
existed both in producing and consuming centres. Every
fish landing centre was a market by itself and fish
marketing was done by a group of agents, retailers,
vendors, wholesalers and transporters. All mechanised
boat landing centres like Madras, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam,
Kodiakarai, Mallipattinam, Mandapam, Rameswaram,
Tuticorin, Cape Comarin and Colachel were the major fish
marketing centres and their average landings varied from
2000 to 20000 tonnes. The major urban consumption centres
were Madras, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy Tirunelveli and
Negercoil, Whose daily intake varied from 50 to 75 tonnes.
Majority of fish market were parts of Vegetable or retail
markets. There were some weekly markets for the
wholesaling of dry fish.

Marine fresh fish available for marketing in the

State was of the order of 1.6 lakhs tonnes. There was
also an outflow of marine fish to Kerala, Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh of the order of 2630 tonnes.

The author conducted a brief study on fish

marketing in the Madras City. The total production in
Madras City was 16,300 tonnes (Indian Institute of
 136

Management, Ahmedabad, 1980). Seventy five per cent of

the catches was consumed in fresh and chilled condition.
There were 41 organised fish market in the City, out of
which five were wholesale and the rest retail. Ninety per
cent of these markets was owned by private parties who
collected rent of levy per basket from the retailers,
commission agents and vendors.

Total inflow of marine fish into Madras city was

16, 660 tonnes from Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
and also from important landing centres within the state
like Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Rameswaram, Mandapam and
Tuticorin. Net availability of marine fish for marketing
was about 28000 tonnes in fresh and chilled condition.

He found that every boat had a woman auctioneer to

dispose the catch and one woman might auction the catch of
2 to 3 boats. Except the parwn which were auctioned per
kg, all other varieties were auctioned mostly per basket
of about 30 kg. Quality fishes like seer and pomfrets,
purchased by auctioneers, dealers, retailers etc. were
iced and sold to hotels, wholesale and retail markets in
the city. Small fish like mackerel, sardines, fresh fish
and crabs were iced I dried as the case might be and sold
to retail I wholesale fresh I dry fish market through
wholesalers / retailers and other intermediate. Big
prawns and lobsters were beheaded, cleaned, iced and sold
 137

to prawn dealers, processors, agents etc., for processing

and export.
An analysis of the price spread in marine fish
marketing showed that both in fresh and dry fish trade,
the share of the fishermen in the consumer rupee varied
from 95 per cent to 30 per cent, the share declining as
the number of intermediates and the distance between
producing and consuming centres increased. At an
aggregate level, the cost structure of different
intermediaries was very rational and private trade was
very efficient. On an average, the share (50 per cent of
the consumer rupee) of fishermen, in India was very much
comparable with their counterparts in the western
economics.
Srini.vasan observed that a number of fishermen co-
operatives had been organised in the state to break the
monopoly of the traders and improve the fishermen's share
in the consumer rupee. There were 522 fishermen co-
operative societies, 10 co-operative marketing unions and
9 Districts Fishermen Co-operative Federations in the
State. A few of them undertook marketing of mainly fishing
requisites, consumer goods and occasionally fresh and
dried fish. Most of those co-operatives had incurred
heavy losses due to various reasons like inadequate funds,
poor management, lack of marketing strategy and well
defined lending policy.
 138

The Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation,

established in 1974, had taken up domestic retail fish
marketing from 1977 onwards. Its main aim was to supply
fish to the consumer in hygienic condition at reasonable
prices and to popularise frozen fish and unconventional
varieties of fish and fishery products. The TNFDC
procured marine fish daily from important landing centres
along the Tamil Nadu coast like Madras, Pulicat,
Nagapattinam, Arcottu Thurai, Rameswaram, Tuticorin, Cape
Comarin and Colachel and transported them to Madras and
Madurai by train and insulated vans. They were
distributed to the various retail depots of the
corporation in the city again by insulated vans after
checking, sorting, re-icing from Adayar Central Cold
Storage. In 1979-80 TNFDC marketed 200 tonnes of fish
worth Rs.1464 lakhs and it increased to 800 tonnes worth
Rs.88.61 lakhs in 1984-85.

The PNFDC opened fish stalls in the major cities to

popularise selling of fish cutlets, unconventional
varieties of fish and marine products like dried
anchovies, prawn pickles, fish loafers, dried rays, dried
sqiud, dried shark, tuna slice etc., The author opined
that the trash fishes now used for fish meal could be used
for human consumption as fish keema, fish sausages, fish
paste and fish concentrates. Since consumer acceptance of
 139

the product was very low, the author recommended consumer

education and extension work. He also recommended the
development of a cold chain system to connect important
fish landing centres with the urban markets to ensure
optimum utilisation of all the high catches and their
distribution to the consumers at reasonable prices.

7
Srivastava, et al., have studied the impact of
machanisation on fish marketing pattern in Gujarat and
Karnataka. They conducted village studies in Chorwad,
Hirakot and Bhadbhut in the Gujarat State and Kadekar,
Bengre and Idya in the Karnataka State.

They observed that three major changes had taken

place in Chorward due to mechanisation. First, a small
percentage of exportable varieties had developed. Second,
a very large portion of the catch was used for fish meal
and oil ext! raction. Third, it had also resulted in the
overall decline in fresh fish consumption as well as in
sun-drying and salt-curing. But in Hirakot village, the
fresh consumption had increased while sun-drying and salt-
curing had declined.

They found that in Karnataka, on the whole, there

was a general increase in the share of fish used for fresh
consumption land reduction in the share of fish used for
sun-drying and salt-drying. The share of fish used for
 140

fish meal and oil extractions had also declined during

post mechanisation period. Further, there had been an
increase in the share of exportable varieties.

They contended that the increase in the share of

fresh fish consumption during the post mechanisation
period had occurred mainly because of the improvements in
the infrastructure such as extensive availability of ice
and cold storage facilities, faster transport and better
handling facilities. Moreover, the share has increased at
the expense of decline in dry fish through sun-drying and
salt-curing.

The study indicated that the mechanisation had

brought many changes in the marketing pattern also.

First, the sale of fish by weight had become the

generally accepted practice in the case of high-unit value
varieties such as prawns, lobsters, pomfrets and seer fish
in most of the selected villages. It had resulted in
considerable improvement in the fishermen's share of the
consumer rupee.

Second, owing to mechanisation, new assemble-cum-

landing centres have been developed. For example, in
Karnataka, a substantial portion of the marketing activity
shifted to Malpe or Mangalore, the nearest ports with
modern landing and berthing facilities for mechanised
 141

craft. Due to the shift in the location of landings and

changes in the marketing activity, two changes were noted.
Firstly, the volume of the catch in the village landing
centres in Karnataka declined and attracted very few
traders. Thus, an oligopolistic market situation has
resulted in reduced prices for the fishermen. On the
other hand a glut like situation had been created in the
landing-cum-assembly Thus, in both mechanisation had
resulted in either less prices or less catches or both for
non-mechanised boat owners.

They also observed that in the pre-mechanisation

period, the predominant mode of transportation was either
head loads or bicycles I rickshaws. In the post
mechanisation period, owing to more centralised landings,
motors, and other automobiles have been introduced.
8
Mathiarjunan conducted a research study of Marine
Fishing Industry in Tuticorin. He studied the functions
of the market intermediaries and the price spreads of
selected species of fish.

He observed that commission agents in the producing

centre who had made advances to fishermen charged 6 per
cent as commission and others charged only 3 per cent.
The assemblers purchased fish from various landing centres
in Triunelveli district for selling it in both inside and
 142

outside the state. The retailers purchased fish in the

open auction and sold in V.O.C. market and S.S. Pillai
market. The head-load women vendors bought fish in open
auction and sold it in residential areas. Commission
agents, in the consuming centre charged 8 per cent
commission from the assemblers. The semi-wholesalers sold
fish both to the local retailers and also to the retailers
in the surrounding areas. The retailers in the outstation
markets purchased fish from the semi-wholesaler for
selling it in the retail markets.

He explained that if the marketing system was less

efficient, the producers did not get remunerative price
and the consumers had to pay higher price. The reduction
in marketing costs and margins would help the fishermen to
get good price and the consumers to get fish at reasonable
price.
He observed that there were three marketing
channels of marine fresh fish in Tuticorin. They were
Channel I - (Tuticorin Market)
Producer - Retailer - Consumer
Channel II - (Palayamkottai - Outstation
Market - Inside the state)
Producer - Assembler - Semi
Wholesaler - Retailer - Consumer
Channel III - (Outstation Market - Outside the
State - Kerala)
Producer - Assembler - Semi
Wholesaler - Retailer - Consumer
 143

He studied the price spreads of five selected

species of fish namely seer fish, sea breams, house
markeral and sardine in all the three channels. He found
that in Channel I (Tuticorin Fish Market) the producer
received 67.94 per cent, 62.71 per cent 66 per cent 66.31
per cent and 68.25 per cent of the consumer rupee for the
five species of fish respectively. The market margins of
the retailer were 14.5 per cent, 17.11 per cent 11.38 per
cent, 12.79 per cent and 15.5 per cent of the consumer
rupee. The marketing margin of retailer was justifiable
in view of the services rendered by him.

In Channel II, Palayamkottai market, the producer

received 58.2 per cent, 58.08 per cent, 54.54 per cent,
52.87 per cent and 53.25 per cent of the consumer rupee
for its five species respectively. The marketing margin
of the semi-wholesaler were 4.75 per cent, 5.16 per cent,
5.73 per cent, 5.68 per cent and 5.99 per cent of the
consumer rupee. Considering the rate of wholesalers in
fish marketing, their marketing charges seemed to be
excessive.

In Channel III Conniemara Fish Market, Trivandrum

the producer received 53.5 per cent, 52.07 per cent, 53.31
per cent, 50.87 per cent and 49.85 per cent of the
consumer's price for the five selected species of fish
respectively. The commission agent (Consuming Centre)
 144

received 5.52 per cent, 5.49 per cent, 5.6 per cent, 5.47
per cent and 5.22 per cent of the consumer's rupee. It
seemed to be excessive compared to the market margins of
assembler which varied between 3.8 per cent and 2.9 per
7cent of the consumer rupee.

The author observed that the fishermen got a higher

share in the consumer's price in Channel I than in the
other two channels. Hence, the working of the Channel I
seemed to be more efficient. The marketing costs and
margins were justifiable and there are minimum number of
market functionaries.

The semi - wholesalers in Channel I and II earned

high margins but performed limited functions.

The commission charges of the agents in Channel III

were also not justifiable.

The author inferred from the analysis that by a

reduction in the number of intermediaries in the fish
market, the consumer in the outstation markets would be
able to get fish at a lesser price. This would encourage
consumption of more fish and also widen the market for the
produce of the fishermen. Thus improving the efficiency
of marketing would benefit the fishing industry.
 145

9
Sathiadhas and Panikkar conducted a study of
marine fish marketing in the Madras region of Tamil Nadu.
The main objectives were (i) to carry out a comprehensive
study of price spread for major varieties of marine fish
to estimate the components of marketing margin and the
share of producer in consumer rupee; (ii) to find out the
relationship between prices at different levels of
marketing channel and (iii) to study the various problems
relating to fish marketing.

Pudumanikuppam, the major mechanised fish landing

centre, which recorded the maximum landings of marine fish
in the Madras coast was selected for observation of
species-wise landing price. Chintadripet wholesale market
was chosen to record the wholesale price. Chintadripet
dominated in terms of quantity of arrivals and the number
of retail purchase. Maximum quantity of fish from
Pudumanikuppam was also channeled to this wholesale market
in addition to the arrivals from other centres of Tamil
Nadu and Andhra coasts. There were about 200 fish
retailing outlets in Madras city, mostly bringing fish
either from Pudumanikuppam landing centre or Chintadripet
wholesale market. Pattalam, Chintadripet, Saidapet and
Vadapalani retail markets were selected for recording
consumer prices.
 146

Data were collected for 15 to 20 days in each

quarter during the period from April 1984 to March 1985.

All the varieties of fish covered under the study

were divided into three groups based on the level of
consumer preference. The consumer preference for a
variety was determined by the annual average consumer
price of that variety in the selected consumer markets.
The fishes with average consumer price of above Rs.15
(seer fish, pamf ret, shark, giant sea perch, larracuda and
tuna) form the I group, Rs.10 - 15 (thread fins, tiger-
toothed croakers, Indian halibut, carangids, rays, cat
fish, thread fin breams, wolf herring, and white fish) is
the II group and less than Rs.10 (silver bellies, lizard
fish, cattle fish, goat fishes, ribbon fish, grey-fin
croakers, white baits, flying fish, other sardines and
Indian mackerel) was the III group.

The authors analysed four marketing channels of

distribution for marine fish.
i) Fishermen - Wholesaler - Retailer - Consumer
ii) Fishermen - Commission agent / Wholesaler
(landing centre)
- Wholesaler (Retail Markets)
- Retailer - Consumer
iii) Fishermen - Retailer - Consumer
iv) Fishermen - Consumer
 147

The major portion of fish trading was practised

through I and II channels. The auctioneers in the primary
market and commission agents in the secondary market were
also involved in the process without involving themselves
in direct possession of the fish.

The study revealed that the marketing cost

including handling and transportation of big sized fishes
like seer fish, giant sea perch, pomfrets, sharks and
barracudas was comparatively higher than that of small
size fishes such as sardines, lizard fish and thread fin
breams. The marketing cost of quality fishes transported
from Pudumanikuppam to Chintadripet wholesale market was
about 70 paise per kg, and for other varieties 45 paise
per kg. The marketing expenses of all varieties
transported from Chintadripet wholesale market to pattalam
range from 30 to 40 paise per kg; Chintadripet to Saidapet
ranged from 40 to 60 paise per kg; and Chintadripet to
Vadapalani ranged from 30 to 50 paise per kg.

The authors made a study of quarterly trend in

price behaviour for 25 varieties of fish at three stages
namely landing, wholesale and retail sale centres. It was
observed that quarterly variations in landing price is way
wide for sharks, rays, thread-fin breams and cuttle fish
and it was reasonably high in case of wolf - herring,
white fish and lesser sardines. But the wide fluctuations
 148

in landing centre prices were not reflected in the retail

prices of these varieties in the local markets. Because
of the monopolistic situation at the wholesale level, the
wholesale and retail prices were maintained at a higher
levels even at times of glut (peak landings) either by
controlling the supply by making use of processing
facilities or by diverting it to different markets. It
was found that the benefit of getting higher prices at the
wholesale level due to the availability of processing
facility was completely appropriated by the middlemen and
not in anyway transferred to the fishermen. Hence, the
prices at the landing centres fluctuated depending upon
the size of catch. It was also observed that the relative
price variations for the quality fishes like seer fish and
pomfrets were moderate.

Regarding retail prices, quarterly fluctuation was

not considerable except for pomfrets, barracudas,
carangids and rays. The seasonal fluctuation in fish
prices at the producer level was wider as compared to
consumer level. The excess supply of any variety of fish
pulled down the price at the landing centre. But its
effect was not fully reflected in the retail market as the
excess was supplied to different interior market% or got
processed.
 149

Fish marketing in Madras region was still under the

clutches of middlemen. The fishermen did not get their
legitimate share in the recent price escalation of fish
and fish products. The involvement of several middlemen
in the marketing chain was detrimental to the interests of
both producers and consumers.

The study showed that the fishermen5 share in

consumer rupee ranged from 32 to 72 paise for different
varieties. It was more than 60 paise for the five
varieties (seer fish, pomfrets, Indian halibut, carangids
and wolf herring) which constituted less than 10 per cent
of the total catch in this area.

The authors found that the marketing margin

accounted for a big chunk of the consumer price for most
of the varieties of fish covered under the study. The
marketing margin was shared by auctioneers, commission
agents, wholesalers and retailers and a portion was spent
on marketing expenses including transportation. The high
level of marketing margin indicated efficient high
marketing system prevailing in this area. Of the 25
varieties of fish covered under the study, the percentage
of marketing margin in consumer's price for 20 varieties
(which constituted 90 per cent of landings in this area)
was worked out to more than 40 per cent. For some
varieties it was as high as 68 per cent.
 150

The authors constructed six regression equations to

establish the functional relationship between landing
centre, wholesale and retail prices for selected
commercially important varieties like seer fish, pomfrets,
sharks, barracudas, thread fin breams and white baits. It
indicated that the effect of landing centre price and
wholesale price and wholesale price on retail price was
significant for the selected varieties.

The authors recommended the introduction of co-

operative marketing system to reduce the high percentage
of marketing margins enjoyed by the middlemen to ensure
remunerative price for fishermen and reasonable price for
consumer.

The study suggested for improvement of transport

facilities and organisation of sales promotional
programmes such as fish stalls to improve the consumer
preference for trash fish varieties. It was also
essential to establish storage and processing facilities
at major landing centres.

The authors recommended the establishment of

regulated markets in order to eliminate existing
malpractices in grading, weighing and quality control.

They also recommended a price support policy for

marine fish on the lines of jute, cotton etc. For each
 151

seasons a minimum floor price could be declared at least

for the major varieties. The periodical dissemination of
information on prevailing prices of commercially important
varieties of fish in different markets would be much
useful to the fishermen, traders and consumers.
10
Stephen made a study of inter-linkages of
technology, capital and labour in marine fish production
in Kanyakumari district. He selected all the 46 villages
in the district for the study.

Being a cross sectional study, it covered a period

of one year from January 1992 to December 1992. His main
objective of analysing the inter-linkages of technology,
capital and labour was to estimate the influence of
important variables on production. He also explained
various market functionaries and price efficiency in the
fish marketing system.

He observed that the size of income of a large

fishing population was determined by the selling price of
fishes and the marketing system prevalent in the district.

He found that the marketing of fish was influenced

by many inter-related factors. The perishable nature of
fish makes marketing difficult particularly for
transportation and storage. There were wide fluctuations
 152

in the quality and quantity of production. The units of

production were much smaller and shorter.

In the study area, auction was the dominant mode of

sale. It was not the fishermen but the middlemen who
played a significant role in the disposal of catch.

Direct sale was generally undertaken by the wives

of the fishermen by headload. The investigation revealed
that a head load vendor usually carried 20 to 25 kilograms
of fish and cycle vendor carried 50 to 60 kilograms of
fish. Only delayed landings and unsold fishes were
disposed in dried or salted form.

The variety of fish, size and other factors

determined the price at the shore. Freight, cost of ice
and curing were also calculated before setting the price.
As fish was a perishable product and its supply uncertain,
demand played a pivotal role in determining prices.

The auctioneer got 2 to 4 per cent commission on

the value of fish auctioned. The auctioneer provided
loans to the fishermen. The establishment of fishermen
societies had resulted in a change in the system of
marketing and price of fish. The method of sale remained
the same but fishermen exerted control over sale and
pricing. The auctioneer appointed by the sangam was paid
1 per cent of the value of catch as wages. He maintained
 153

day-to-day records of the quantum of catch and sales to

the merchants. The oral market practices were eliminated
to great extent and this was a welcome change in fish
marketing.

He analysed four different channels in the

marketing of marine fish in Kanyakumari district.

In the local market (Channel I), the fish passed

from the producer through the auctioneer or fishermen
society and again through the retails to the consumer. In
the case of the interior market (Channel II), fish were
channeled through four to five functionaries to reach the
ultimate consumer from the fishermen. In the case of
outstation market (III), fish passed through five to six
hands to reach the consumer. In export varieties the
chain was even larger and was literally infested with
middlemen of various shades.

The author studied in detail the price spread of 10

species of fish namely seer fish, pomfret, perches, horse
mackerel, sardine, cat fish, betone, mullet, silver belly
and ribbon fish in different markets.

He found that in local market for the above

mentioned ten species, producer gets between 50 per cent
and 75 per cent of the prices paid by the ultimate
consumers depending on the varieties. The auctioneer
 154

charged 2 per cent to 4 per cent sales proceeds as

commission. Transport cost ranged between 7.37 per cent
and 20.92 per cent respectively. The market margin for
the retailers for the different species ranges between
7.95 per cent and 19.80 per cent of the consumer rupee.

The study on price spread in distant markets showed

that the producer gets between 45.60 per cent and 68.50
per cent respectively of the consumer price. The
additional cost of packing, ice and transportation were
ranging from 1.67 per cent to 14.25 per cent. The margins
of the assembler on the different species varied from 5.15
per cent to 13.95 per cent.

The wholesaler's purchase price was between 62.86

per cent and 80.05 per cent. The market expenses varies
from 0.64 per cent to 2.04 per cent of the consumer price.
The market margin accured was between 6.01 per cent to
12.40 per cent of the consumer's price. The purchase
price of the retailers was between 72.25 per cent and
89.93 per cent. The marketing margin of the retailers was
between 6.97 per cent and 17.55 per cent.

Regarding price spreads in the out-station market

(Kerala) the producer received from 34.72 per cent to 57
per cent of the consumer rupee. The commission charged
ranged from 21.17 per cent to 4.63 per cent of the
 155

consumer price. The market expenses were from 0.60 per

cent to 1.85 per cent of the consumer price. The market
margin varied from 5.79 per cent to 16.12 per cent. The
retailers cost varied from 0.48 per cent to 1.48 per cent.
The market margin of the retailers varied from 9.8 per
cent to 21.95 per cent.

The author observed that one of the important

causes for the poor economic conditions of fishermen was
that they did not receive fair price for the catch. As
regards marketing problems, the study revealed that the
43.91 per cent fishermen felt that the main marketing
problem was the parasitic role of middlemen. Other
problems expressed are, price variation, less governmental
support, absence of regulated and organised market
dealings, lack of fish based industrial units, traditional
method of processing and inadequate knowledge about market
conditions.

The author analysed clearly the different market

functionaries, channels of distribution and price spread
in the fish marketing system. But he had not made any
analysis of how the existing marketing system should be
improved or modernised on scientific lines so as to ensure
fair price to the producer.
 156

11
Sath yadhas pointed out that marine fishermen did
not get due price for their produce. The difference
between consumer price and producer price was large. His
finding was in conformity with the general hypothesis that
conditions of monopsony and oligopsony characterised the
fish marketing structure of India at the various stages
and as a result fishermen did not get the advantage of
high price prevalent at consumer market.

He explained that more than 90 per cent of the

marine fish landings was supplied in the internal markets.
With the advent of processing techniques like freezing and
storage coupled with tremendous demand for prawns in
several European countries, the export marketing of marine
fish recorded a phenomenal growth in recent years.

He added that market margin was an indicator of

efficiency of marketing system. In the absence of any
value added process, higher the value of market margin,
lower was the efficiency of the marketing system. The
market margin should be restricted to a reasonable level
so that producer was guaranteed of legitimate share in
consumer rupee and consumer was protected against
excessive prices.
 157

He described that all the marine fish landing

centres of the entire coastal belt in the state served as
primary markets. The mode of sales was by auction. There
were several wholesale markets near the coast and interior
hinterlands and innumerable retail markets located in the
nook and corner of the state.

The major portion of fish trading in internal

marketing was practised through three prominent channels,
namely,

1) Fishermen - Auctioneer - Wholesaler (Primary

Market)
- Wholesaler (Retail Market)
- Retailers - Consumers.
2) Fishermen - Auctioneer - Commission Agents
- Wholesaler-Retailers-Consumers.
3) He opined that 60 per cent of the marine fish
was marketed fresh in domestic market, 22 per cent in dry
edible, 10 per cent in dry fish meal and 8 per cent was
exported to foreign countries.

There were wide fluctuations in the price of marine

fish at all stages of transactions due to perishable
nature of fish and high variations in the short run
supply. The increase in the price of marine fish over the
years had been substantial. The increase was much higher
than other food articles. The wholesale price of seer
 158

fish per kg increased from Rs.4.00 in 1973-74 to Rs. 28.90

in 1989-1990, rainbow runner from Rs.3.50 to Rs.24.60,
barracudas Rs. 2 to 15.20, Cat fish from Rs. 1 to Rs.13,
and sardines Rs. 1 to Rs.6.90 during the same period in
Kanyakumari district.

The retail price of seer fish per kg in Kanyakumari

district increased from Rs.9 in 1973-74 to Rs.33.50 in.
1989-90, rainbow runner from Rs.5 to Rs.31.25, barracuda
Rs.2.50 to Rs.16.50, sardine Rs.2 to Rs.10 and rays Rs. 2
to Rs.10.75 during the same period.

There were considerable seasonal variations in the

average primary, wholesale and retail prices of marine
fish. The average seasonal prices of different varieties
of fish during 1989-90 had been worked out on the basis of
data collected from selected landing centres of
Kadiyapattinam, Colachel, Muttam, Kurumpanai and
Kanyakumari wholesale market at Vadasery and retail
markets of Vadasery, Monday Market and Swamiyarmadam of
Kanyakumari district.

All the varieties of fish covered under the study

were divided into three groups based on the level of
consumer preference. The fishes with average consumer
price of above Rs. 20 formed the I Group (seer fish,
rainbow runner, pomfrets, pig-face breams, red snapper and
 159

barracuda), Rs. 11.50 to Rs.20 II Group (reef cod, tuna,

shark, cat fish, wolf herring, mackerel and scads) and
less than Rs.11.50, III Group (Goat fish, ribbon fish,
thread fin breams, rays, lizard fish, Indian pellona, gold
stipped sardine, white baits and silver bellies).

The average primary, wholesale and retail prices of

the 22 species of fish was monitored during the four
quarters of April 1989 to March 1990 in the two channels
of distribution.

Channel I - Fishermen - Wholesaler - Retailer.Chain

Channel II- Fishermen - Retailer Chain

During April - June 1989 quarter, the fishermen

received maximum price of Rs.28 per kg for seer fish and
minimum price of Rs.3 per kg for silver bellies. Prices
of many varieties were found to be more than double of the
landing centre price. Among the consumer market studied,
the average retail price of different varieties of fish
were comparatively lower at Monday Market of Channel II
and higher at Vadasery retail market of channel I.

Fishermen received maximum price for seer fish

(Rs.23.70) in Group I, Sharks (Rs.10.40) in Group II and
rays (Rs.4.30) in Group III. Comparative higher retail
prices were observed at Vadasery market in quarter July -
September 1989.
 160

The fishermen received an average price of Rs.

21.60 per kg for seer fish and Rs. 1.35 per kg for lizard
fish during October - December 1989.

The fishermen received Rs. 24.65 for pomfrets,

24.40 for seer fish and minimum of Rs. 3.05 per kg for
silver bellies.
The author also studied the average annual prices
of different varieties of fish in the primary, wholesale
and retail markets in Kanyakumari region of Tamil Nadu
during April 1989 Rs.24 per kg the prices were in the
primary market Rs.28.90 per kg in the wholesale market,
Rs.38.00 per kg in Vadasery, Rs.33.70 per kg in the Monday
Market and Rs.35.65 per kg in Swamiyarmadam. The price
per kg of shark at the landing centre was Rs.11, Rs.13.85
in wholesale market, Rs.19.10 in Vadasery, Rs.16.65 in the
Monday Market and Rs.15.75 in Swamiyarmadam. The price
per kg of white bait was Rs.4 at the landing centre,
Rs.5.85 in wholesale market, Rs.9.80 in Vadasery, Rs.8.15
in the Monday Market and Rs.8.90 in Swamiyarmadam.

The market margin for sea fish was Rs.14 per kg in

the I Channel (of distribution) and it was Rs.11.55 per kg
in the II Channel (of distribution)); for shark it was
Rs.8.10 per kg, in Channel I and Rs.5.45 per kg in
Channel II; and for white bait it was Rs.5.80 in Channel I
and Rs.4.95 in Channel [I.
 161

The author explained that the fishermen's share in

the consumer rupee ranged from 37 per cent for goat fish
to 67 per cent for sea fish in Channel I and 36 per cent
to 68 per cent in Channel II respectively. In almost all
varieties, fishermen received higher share in the consumer
rupee in Channel II where there was no wholesalers in the
marketing chain, higher was the share of fishermen in the
consumer rupee.

Moreover, the fishermen received higher share for

seer fish (63 to 68 per cent) in Group I, shark (58 to 67
per cent) in Group II and sardines (43 to 50 per cent) in
Group III categories of fish.

The correlation in prices between different markets

for all commercially important species of fish had been
worked out. It was found that correlation co-efficient of
prices of different varieties of fish between markets were
all positive and significant (PLO.01). Hence, the
functional relationship between landing price (LP),
wholesale (WP), and retail price (RP) has been estimated
by linear regression analysis (Y = a + bX) taking landing
centre price as independent variable and wholesale and
retail prices was more than one per cent in most of the
varieties.
 162

The author observed that the present marketing

policies and price structure did not provide adequate
inducement to the fishermen to increase the fish
production. Even the occasional bumper catch does not
help the fishermen to increase his income from fishing.
This could be rectified only through Government action in
announcing a support price for these varieties which were
caught in large quantities for now and then. The support
price can be effectively implemented through a public
agency having sufficient storage, processing and
distribution facilities.
12
Naik made an analysis of marine fish market in
Balasore district of Orissa. The objectives of the study
were: 1) to study the marketing channel, marketing costs
and margins in the process of marine fish marketing in
Orissa; 2) to identify the factors discriminating the
fishermen's net share in the process of marketing; 3) to
study the seasonality of marine fish prices and its
fluctuation over the period; 4) to study the impact of
marine fish prices in the short and long run.

The data relating to the production of marine fish

in different maritime districts as well as the Orissa
state were collected from the Directorate of Fisheries,
Government of Orissa. The cost of marketing and price
spread had been studied by contacting 105 fishermen, 33
 163

auctioneers, 9 commission agents (purchase), 15 commission

agents (sales), 45 wholesalers, 69 retailers, 21 vendors
and 105 consumers from the 11 landing centres of the
Balasore district. The wholesale price of marine fish for
the period 1984-92 was collected from the Market
Intelligence Wing, Government of Orissa. Nerlovian price
expectation model was used to study the impact of the
price changes on marine fish catch. A linear discriminant
model was used to examine the relative contribution of
different variables in discriminating the price received
by the fishermen.

The author had identified 10 marketing channels of

marine fish market in Balasore district. The auctioneer,
the commission agent, wholesaler, retailer, vendor and
other intermediaries are involved in the process of
marketing of marine fish.

He observed that the net share of the fishermen

gets reduced with the number of intermediaries in the
market channel. It varied from 93.1 per cent (Sila Fish)
to 95.12 per cent (Kantia Fish) of the price paid by
consumers in the direct selling without involving
intermediaries in the process of marketing. The net share
of the fishermen was reduced to 40.68 per cent (Sila Fish)
to 53.67 per cent (Kantia Fish) of the price paid by
 164

the consumers in the market channel having six

intermediaries.

The researcher observed that there were wide

variations in the price received by the fishermen for
various marine fishes in different market channels over
space and time. He had used a linear discriminant
function to identify the relative contribution of
different factors influencing such discrimination in
receiving price at the fishermen's level. The variables
selected in the model are marketing costs (X ), marketing
1
margins (X ), number of middlemen in the market channel
2
(X ), distance between the landing point and the
3
consumer's price (X ), and the price paid by the consumers
4
2
(X ). By using discriminate function (Mahalanobis D ), he
5
has developed discriminate models for different marine
fishes. The analysis showed that in the existing
marketing scenario, the marketing margins received by the
intermediaries influenced to the extent of 48.28 per cent
(Sila Fish) to 79.47 per cent (Kantia Fish) of the total
discrimination in receiving price for their catch. It was
followed by the price paid by the consumers which varied
from 12.32 per cent (Kantia Fish) to 25.29 per cent (Fink
Fish). Other factors discriminated only marginally. Thus
the study clearly established that the marketing margins
and the price paid by the consumers were the two important
 165

variables which discriminated significantly the price

received by the fishermen at the landing point.

The author attempted to estimate monthly/yearly

trend of wholesale price indices and seasonal indices of
different categories of marine fishes in Orissa as well as
Balasore coast during the period 1984-92. He observed
that wholesale prices in Balasore coast varied between
11.72 per cent (small fish) to 15.4 per cent (big fish)
per annum. Similarly, the monthly price rise had been
estimated which varies from 0.68 per cent to 1.3 per cent
per month in Balasore district.

By using Nerlovian price expectation model both

short run and long run elasticity for Orissa State and
Balasore district have been calculated as follows:

1. Short run elasticity Balasore Orissa

X
Tt1 = ----- 2.11 1.72
Y

2. Long run elasticity

X
b = ----- 1.18 0.042
Y

The price elasticity indicated that with 1 per cent

increase in wholesale price of marine fish in Balasore
market would tend to increase the marine catch to the
 166

extent of 2.11 per cent and 1.18 per cent respectively in

short run and long run in Balasore district. Similarly,
with one per cent increase in price the marine catch in
Orissa would increase to the extent of 1.72 per cent and
0.042 per cent respectively in the short run and long run.
It is mainly due to this fact that rise in market price
alone would significantly increase the marine catch in the
short run. But other factors like export potential,
market infrastructure in the landing centre and the
government policy played a crucial role in increasing the
marine catch in the long run situation.

The author suggested that price being the

instrument for increasing the volume of marine catch, a
remunerative price might be provided to the fishermen. A
remunerative price is a primary need to the fishermen for
shifting the level of catch.

The author recommended the establishment of

Fishermen's Agri-Business Consortium at the landing
centre. This consortium would act as a co-operative in
purchasing inputs, procuring output from among members,
process at the consortium level and export directly. This
would not only reduce the marketing cost and margins
appropriated by the intermediaries but also tend to
increase fishermen's share. It would also help the
 167

fishermen in entering the export market directly. Since

export price was significantly more than the domestic
market price, the liberalisation of world trade would
increase the level of production to a significant extent.

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2. P.S. Rao (1983). Fishery Economics and Management in

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3. John Kurien (1984). The Marketing of Marine Fish

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Small Scale Fishery of Sri Lanka", in T. Panayotou
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V. K. Gupta (1986). Impact of Mechanisation on Small
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 168

8. Mathiarjunan (1986). A Study of Marine Fishing

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