Study on Fish Market, Marketing Channel and Seasonal Price Variation of Fish in Dinajpur Sadar Upazila

Abstract

The study was conducted on fish market, marketing channel and seasonal price variation of fishes in Dinajpur Sadar upazila. Data were collected from three fish markets (Bahadur Bazar, Rail Bazaar and Farm hut) during the period from July 2014 to June 2015. A survey questionnaire was developed, pre-tested and finally used for collection of data. A total of 55 fish retailers and 20 aratdars were interviewed for obtaining pertinent data. In Farm hut aratdar was absent. Four types of marketing channel were identified in the study area. These channels were (a) Fish farmer - Local paiker - Aratdar - Retailer - consumers, (b) Fish farmer- Aratdar - Retailer- Consumer, (c) Fish farmer - retailerconsumer, and (d) Marine resources - Agent - Aratdar - Retailer - Consumer. A total of 43 fish species were found in varying level of abundance during the study period. The highest seasonal price variation of fish was observed during summer (March to June) season followed by winter (November to February). Retailers were bear higher marketing cost than Aratdar. On the other hand; aratdar earned the higher net marketing margins than retailer. During the study period, it was observed that seasonal net profit was higher in summer season in case of large and medium fish species where as some small fish had higher net profit in summer and other small species had higher net profit in winter. Improvement in basic infrastructure such as, clean water supply, sanitation facilities adequate drainage and ice facilities, price fluctuation, political rest, adequate storage facilities, well developed transportation system are recommended by the present study