PRESENT STATUS OF CAPTURE FISHERY AND FISH MARKETING AT BEEL DAKATIA IN KHULNA REGION

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1 BANGLADESH RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS JOURNAL ISSN: , Volume: 3, Issue: 3, Page: , January-February, 2010 PRESENT STATUS OF CAPTURE FISHERY AND FISH MARKETING AT BEEL DAKATIA IN KHULNA REGION Tanvin Ara 1, Zerin Sultana 1, Md. Shamim Ahmed 3, Md. Rezaul Haque 2 and Debashis Roy 3 Tanvin Ara, Zerin Sultana, Md. Shamim Ahmed, Md. Rezaul Haque and Debashis Roy. (2010). Present Status of Capture Fishery and Fish Marketing at Beel Dakatia in Khulna Region. Bangladesh Res. Pub. J. 3(3): Retrieve from Abstract At Beel Dakatia, area of aquaculture and capture fishery are about ha and ha, respectively. In the study, 44 different fish species and 3 prawn species were identified and 7 types of gears, 8 types of traps and 5 types of hooks & spears were used in the capture fishery area. The average production of prawn and white fish were found to be kg/ha and kg/ha respectively. 58% farmers sold their products in Depots and 32% in Chatals % depot owners had no knowledge of HACCP complaint and the depots were handled poorly. There were two marketing channels, in which both fishermen and intermediaries (viz. Aratder, Paiker and Retailer) were involved. The average marketing margin price per quintal of fish for fishermen was Tk and for aratder, paiker and retailer were Tk , Tk and Tk respectively. Among them the profit of paiker was the highest (9.94%). In channel-1, fishermen received about Tk 78.14% of retail price and in channel-11 about Tk 72.06%. It is clearly evident from the result that capture fishery and fishermen s share are decreasing with the increasing of intermediaries share in the marketing channels day by day. Key words: Fishermen, Capture fishery, Marketing channel, Intermediaries Introduction Evaluating the fishery status would be the key factors of designing the development strategy. Subsequently, culture systems, fisheries diversity, fishing method, marketing system are mandatory issues. For the increase of Aquaculture farming, the number of Depots for prawn marketing and other fish markets are increased day by day. There is all most needed to develop the marketing system not only to support the marginal fishermen or traders but also to increase our national economy (ADB, 1996). Beel Dakatia is one of the coastal areas, Which was not only typical wetland but also typical land and people life style were fully oriented towards cultivation.but a noticeable change takes place due to the construction of embankment during 1960s. Polder were constructed, under USAID coastal embankment project, covering 40,000 ha to protect land from daily inundation by saline waters and peak seasonal or storm flood levels in the regions (Banglapedia, 2004). Water logging problem is solved by the cutting a new canal to connect Sandhya khal to Shulua river. After connection, the vast area was *Corresponding Author: address: shamim113&yahoo.com 1 Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna Professor, Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology Discipline, KU, Khulna Fish Genetics and Biotechnology Department, Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology Discipline, KU, Khulna-9208.

2 Present Status of Capture Fishery and Fish Marketing raised by siltation. As a result, the aquaculture farming areas is gradually increasing with decreasing agriculture and capture fishery area (Rahman, 1995). Fisheries Management Plan For The Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project. The bases of the fisheries management plan must assist and stimulate of those activities. Sanctuary, Aquaculture development, Migration of adult brood stock of fresh and brackish water fishes, Culture based fisheries and Monitoring (ADB, 1996). Beel Dakatia is one of the largest Beel in Khulna region. Total area is about 365 ha, that is 32% of the total coastal beel area, and the total harvest of fish is about 22,190 MT, which is 9% of the total coastal area and 3% of total Bangladesh (DoF, 2002, 2003). So, this area is well known to white fish and shrimp production zone. This study mainly focuses specifically on the present condition of capture fishery and marketing system of fishery resources at Beel Dakatia region. The aquaculture farming area is gradually increasing with decreasing agriculture and capture fishery area. For decreasing capture fishery area many indigenous species are drastically reducing day by day and with increasing aquaculture farming the prawn and white fish production. Proper marketing system and Capture fishery management are essential for the fishermen as well as their socio-economic conditions developed and to protect the native species. The principle objectives of the study was to observe the present status of capture fishery and existing fish marketing channel with cost margins at different stages in Beel Dakatia. Materials and methods Study area Beel Dakatia is located in the southwest region of the Bangladesh and northern part of Khulna district, the study was conducted (6 months) from September 2007 to February Field survey and observation Field survey was made in the fifteen (15) villages of Beel Dakatia at Khulna region. Five villages were randomly selected from every Thana and five farmers were randomly selected from each village and seven depots and one chatal auctioneer from each Thana were randomly selected. Data collection In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, relevant information and literature were collected from the two sources, which are: Primary sources The primary data were assembled through field survey by using a relevant structural questionnaire. Secondary sources Further relevant information on status of fishermen were collected relevant books, NGO s and Government organizations like, Upazila fisheries office, Upazila land youth development and statistical office, Bangladesh Water Development Board, Department of fisheries (Khulna Branch), Seminar Library, URP Discipline, Khulna University Seminar Library. Data analysis Results The data were analyzed by MS Words and MS Excels. 1087

3 Ara et, al., Capture Fishery Management In Beel Dakatia, among them about peoples directly and peoples indirectly involved in aquaculture, about 265 peoples directly and 2320 peoples indirectly involved in the capture fishery. Three types of fishermen were found such as occasional fisherman, fulltime fisherman and part time fisherman. The fishermen used netting, angling, trapping, spearing, dewatering and hand picking for fishing. In the study, there were 44 different fish species, 3 prawn species, 7 types of gears, 8 types of traps, 5 types of hooks and spears are used in the capture fishery of Beel Dakatia. The management was very poor. So, the self recruiting species was the main source of fishes. At the beginning of the rainy season, the fishermen start indiscriminate fishing in the capture fishery area. but now-a-days for more harvesting, catching brood fishes, use of current jal, preparation of gher in the beel, closing the migratory route of fishes, use of current jalousie jal or pata to the swimming place of fish etc were major causes for the extinction of our native species. Marketing system of prawn and white fish Prawn production The average prawn production was found to be kg/ha, in poly culture 555 kg/ha and 481 kg/ha in integrated culture. In poly culture, the highest and the lowest prawn production were found to be 741kg/ha and 321kg/ha respectively. In integrated culture, the highest and the lowest prawn production were found to be 704 kg/ha and 222 kg/ha respectively Production (kg/ha) Highest Low est Average Production level Polyculture Integrated culture White Fish production Fig 1. Prawn production in Beel dakatia The highest and the lowest white fish production were found to be 345kg/ha and 185kg/ha in poly culture. The highest and the lowest white fish production were found to be 328kg/haand 113kg/ha in integrated culture Production (kg/ha) Highest Low est Average Production level Polyculture Integrated culture Fig 2. White fish production in Beel Dakatia

4 Present Status of Capture Fishery and Fish Marketing Fish Distribution and Marketing system About 96 % farmers sold their product several times to the market whereas the rest of 4% sold it wholly once. Some farmers sold their products to the depot, chatal auctioneer, local market and dadonder. This result also indicated that the marketing channel of product. In this system the farmers would not get their appropriate price of prawn and fishes. The highest 58% farmers sold their product to the Dipot and only a few about 2% farmers sold their product to the local market. Depots were mainly used as prawn marketing and chatal auctioneers were found to sell white fish more by auctioneers the poor farmers are bound to take loan from the dadonder to some extent. Table 1. Prawn and white fish marketing condition Depots physical structure Place of sell Percentage (%) Dipot 58 Chatal 32 Local market 2.0 Dadonder 8 Average sizes of the depots were found sq ft. The total number of depot was about 118 in the study area. Physical conditions of the depots were important to know the status of the depot. Reconstructed depots were categorized into 3 groups such as Mosaic depot, Semi-tiles depot, Pakka depot from the survey, it was found that 33.23% depots had Semi-tiles floor, 48.70% depots had mosaic floor and 18.07% depots had pakka floor. Some depot processing room was separated from the entrance and separate beheading room. Most of the depots had one room with 1-2 doors and windows varied from 1-2 in numbers. Only 20% local depots were found to have good drainage system but 44% depot had drainage system that could be defined as up to the mark and rest of them (36%) were bad. Communication More than 50% depots were found near the markets and roadsides and had a good communication system. But some the depots situated at the remote villages found to have a very bad communication system and faced a major problem of transportation. Storing of prawn About 34.57% depots was used plastic dum, 28.67% depots was used styrofoam box, 24.57% depots used brick built tank and 12.19% depots used tin made box. The ratio of ice and prawn varied from depot to depot. Usually the ratio of ice and prawn varied between 1:1to 1:2. Grading spot The highest number of depots (52.86%) used stainless steel grading table for grading of prawn, 26.14% and 21% depot used the clean Pacca floor (mosaic /cemented) and Wooden platform(chouki) for grading respectively. Grading status Generally depot owner purchase head on prawn and sell head less product measuring grade status. Sometimes depot owners were found to sell their product both head- less and head-on conditions. 1089

5 Ara et, al., Table 2. Grading status of prawn by weight Criteria Grade Individual wt (gm) Price variation (TK) Head-on PD Not particular Headless Knowledge of HACCP Most of the reconstructed depot owners had no knowledge about HACCP. Only 14.18% had knowledge of HACCP and 85.82% depot owners had no knowledge of HACCP in the surveyed areas. They were ignoring about the importance of HACCP. Channel-I Fishermen sold 75% of their fishes to Aratder, 15% to Paiker and the rest of 10% to consumer. Aratder purchased 75% of their produce from fishermen and sold the entire 75% to paiker. Paiker purchased 15% from fishermen and 75% from aratdar and sold 90% of those fish to consumer. Channel-II Aratder purchased 80% fish from fishermen and paiker purchased 20% from fishermen and sold the entire amount of paiker by auction. Paiker purchased 100% fish from aratder on auction and sold 74% fishes to retailer and rest 26% fishes to consumers. The marketing channels are consisted of fishermen, aratdars (chatal owner), paikers (Wholesalers), Retailers and consumers. Marketing Costs and Margins of fishermen and intermediaries Marketing cost In fish marketing, the nature and type of costs are not same at different stages in the marketing process. Attempt has been made to analyze the marketing cost of fishes at different levels. Marketing cost = Labor cost + transportation cost + storage cost Average marketing cost of fishermen The marketing cost for each component has been calculated on quintal basis. Transportation cost per quintal was the highest (33.09 %) which is followed by personal expenses (16.75%), Aratdar's commission (18.51 %), wastage (12.34%), market tolls (7.41%) and entertainment cost (9.87 %). The total marketing cost of the fishermen was Tk per quintal. 1090

6 Present Status of Capture Fishery and Fish Marketing Table 3. Marketing cost of fishermen Cost items Average cost/ Quintal (Tk.) Percentages (%) Transportation Personal expenses Aratdar s commission Wastages Market tolls Entertainment Total Average Marketing margin of intermediaries The fishermen sold fishes to Aratdars at an average price of Tk per quintal and Aratdars sold these to the Paikers at Tk per quintal. So, the gross margin and net margin was Tk and Tk per quintal respectively. The Paikers purchased fishes from Aratdars and sold to consumers, so the gross margin and net margin were TK and Tk per quintal respectively. The Retailers purchased fishes from Aratdars & Paikers and sold to consumers. So the gross margin and net margin were Tk and Tk per quintal, respectively. Table 4. Average marketing margins of intermediaries in Fish market of Beel Dakatia Intermediaries Purchase price(1) Sale (2) price Gross margin *3=2-1 Marketing cost(4) Net margin **5= (3-4) Aratdar (6.82%) Paiker (9.94%) Retailers (5.77%) 1 quintal= 100 kg.*gross margin= Sale price-purchase price. ** Net margin= Gross margin- marketing cost. Channel-1 and Channel-11 In channel I (Fishermen-Aratdar - Paiker Consumer), the fishermen's gross and net price per quintal of fish were Tk , Tk. and Tk respectively. The corresponding price spread was Tk per quintal of fish, while the fishermen's gross share was % and the fishermen's net share was %. Similarly, in channel II, (Fishermen-Aratdar-Paiker-Retailer-Consumer), the price spread was taka per quintal of fish, while the fishermen's gross share was % and the fishermen's net share was72.06%. Therefore, the fishermen's share decreases with the increases of middlemen share in the marketing channel. Table 5. Price spread and fishermen's share of different marketing channels Marketing channels Retail price Tk/ quintal Fishermen gross price Tk/quintal Fishermen s net price Tk/quintal* Price spread Fishermen s gross share (% of retail price) 1091 Fishermen s net share(% of retail price) I II Note: (a) Channel I = Fishermen Aratdar- Paiker-Consumer, Channel II= Fishermen- Aratdar -Paiker-Retailer-consumer, Fishermen net price = Retail price - Fishermen's marketing cost.

7 Ara et, al., Discussion The study was conducted to know the present situation of capture fishery and marketing system of fisheries resources in Beel Dakatia. The investigation covered the three thanas Dumuria, daulatpur and fultala of Beel Dakatia. To observe the existing Prawn and white fish marketing system in Beel Dakatia, for that some Depot and chatal are randomly selected nearer the Beel Dakatia. Data was collected by interview technique were supplemented by information received from various sources and also personal observation. In Beel Dakatia, The total area of aquaculture is about ha (52%). Capture fishery area is about ha (2.56%). FAO (1995) recorded open water fish production declined from 6, 90,000 tones in 1972 to a low of 4, 24,000 tones in One of the reasons for the decline has been over fishing caused by a large and increasing population. But other reasons are related to the loss of aquatic environment and fish migration routes caused by implementation of flood control measures, drainage and irrigation schemes and road building programmed which usually involve construction of embankments, closure or diversion of rivers and other structural changes with resulting negative effects on fisheries resources. It was observed from the study that the similar reasons that declines the fisheries for the following reason loss of fish habitat for over drainage, The massive capture of fry for aquaculture purposes, blockage of migration routes of adult fish and hatchings using nets and trap of small mesh sizes, blockage of the khals, The number of fish and fish species in the open water bodies in the Beel Dakatia area have declined since water logging for the construction of embankment. The fishermen of Bangladesh have been broadly categorized into netting, angling, trapping, spearing, dewatering and hand picking by Dewan and Mazid (1994). In the study 7 new gears, which are phoot jal, paia jal, patpati jal, dool-chot jal, sruti jal, bhurdi jal, goria jal are also recorded. Among the newly recorded jals, 3 are being used in beels and other 4 jals in rivers. They also indicated that phoot jal, patati jal, paia jal as gill net, dool-chot (seine net), sruti jal (bag net), bhuri jal (clasp net) and guria jal (dragged net). BCAS (1989, 1991) investigated the gear used by fishermen for fishing in the beels of Netrokona and Sunamgoaj district. The gears recorded are jhaki jal, uther jal, veshal jal, dal jal, kona ber jal, ber jal, tona jal, goar jai, pine/pice jal, sarda jal, current jal, ram jal and chouhunda jal etc. The fishing gears are used by the fishermen in Beel dakatia more or less similar to this report. In the study area, fishermen used netting, angling, trapping, spearing, dewatering and hand picking for fishing. 44 different fish species and 3 species of prawn were observed. Among these species, 9 exotic fish species, those species are not so available in the capture fishery area except Tilapia and Nilotica, 22 endangered fish species, those species are not available now but used to be available earlier and rest of them were not available in the capture fishery area of Beel Dakatia. In the study, 7 types of gear among them 3 gill net, 1 scene net, 1 lift net and 1 cast net (Koijal, Fash-jal, Punti-jal, Ber-jal, Veshal-jal, Khepla-jal, Shuti-jal) are also observed. 8 types of traps (Koidughair, kadam, Ramani, Arinda, Charo, Ghuni, Tubo, Polo, Vair) and 5 types of hook and spear (Chip Borshi, Borshi, Fulkuchi, Jhupi and Konch) are used in the capture fishery. In Beel Dakatia, The total area of aquaculture is about ha. Capture fishery area is about ha and major portion about 52% areas of Beel Dakatia was used for aquaculture this area is a very potential zone for the production of fish and prawn. The marketing chain in depot passes through a number of intermediaries such as: Farmer, depot owner, commission agent then Fish Company. In the study, it was found that 33.23% depots had Semi-tiles floor, 48.70% depots had mosaic floor and 18.07% 1092

8 Present Status of Capture Fishery and Fish Marketing depots had concrete floor. Almost 100 percent depots had electricity facility. 50% depots had a good communication system. Grading was carried out in wooden platform mainly in Bagerhat district, while wooden platform, polythene and floor were used in Khulna and Satkhira districts as grading spot. it was found that highest number of depots (52.86%) used stainless steel table, 26.14% and 21% depot used the clean concrete floor (mosaic /cemented) and Wooden platform (Chouki) for grading of prawn which are similar to this study. White fish is the major component in the chatal for auction. In chatals prawn was sold through auction by chatal auctioneer without sorting or grades. In the study two types of marketing channels were observed. Rokeya et al. (1997) reported that local agents collect and purchase fish from the farmers on commission basis in Jessore fish market. Rahman (2003) reported that in Gazipur the market chain from farmers to consumers consisted of a number of intermediaries such as, local fish traders, agents, whole sellers and retailers. Quddus (1991) also identified a similar market chain in Mymensingh district. The above observations support our findings. Ahmed (1983) the marketing margins of representative intermediaries acting between producers and consumers and obtain between 50% and 65% margin for the consumers of the retails price. The bulk of the marketing margin is earned by the assembler and the distributor. From the study it was found that, the gross margin and net margin or profits of Aratder were Tk and Tk respectively. Paikers gross margin of Tk per quintal and the net margin was Tk per quintal. The gross margin and net margin or profit of Retiler was Tk and Tk per quintal respectively. So, in term of profit making, the performance of Paiker was relatively better than that of Aratdars & Retailers.So the observations are similar with the results. Conclusion Beel Dakatia is a well known shrimp and prawn production zone. The result proved that the capture fishery and fisherman s share are decreasing with the increasing of middleman s share. To improve and develop the marketing channel, physical marketing facilities should be increased and unnecessary and exploitative middleman should be eliminated from the marketing channel. References Asian Development Bank, (1996). Comments on fisheries Management Plan for the Khulna-Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project, pp Ahmed, N., (1983). Marketing of selected Fishes in Bangladesh, a study in efficiency. Ph. D thesis, Department of Marketing, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, p.367. BCAS, (1989). Final report ENIMOF project, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Government of Bangladesh center in advanced studies, pp BCAS, (1991). Floodplain production Monitoring, Initial Study Report. BCAS, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp Banglapedia, (2004). [Accessed on 28 November, 2004]. DoF, (2003). Fisheries Resources information of Bangladesh. Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Government of Bangladesh.pp DoF, (2002). Fish catch statistics of Bangladesh, Department of Fisheries, Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, Dhaka, Bangladesh, p

9 Ara et, al., Dewan, S., and Mazid, M.A., (1994). Productivity, Exploitation and fishing technology of Inland open water fisheries, Bangladesh. A report prepared by for the project "Assistant to Fisheries Research Institute" (BGD/ 89/OV) FRI/FAO/UNDP, pp: FAO, (1995). Report on Marine Fishing village identification survey in Bangladesh. UNDP Project Publication No (2). Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC), pp Quddus, M.A., Seasonal price movements of commercially important fishes in selected markets of Mymensingh district, Bangladesh J. Fish., 14(1-2): Rahman, A., (1995). Beel Dakatia: The Environmental Consequences of a Development Disaster. University Press limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp Rokeya, J.A., Ahmed S.S., Bhuiyan A.S. and Alam M.S., (1997). Marketing system of native and exotic major carps of Rajshahi District. Bangladesh J. Fish., 20(1-2): Rahman, M. M., (2003). Status of fish marketing in Gazipur, Bangladesh. Unpublished thesis, Department of Fisheries Management, BAU, Mymensingh.p