ABSTRACT

This paper examined the problems of fish marketing and the activities of middle men (wholesalers and retailers). Purposive and random sampling technique was used to select 50 fish marketers and structured questionnaires were administered to them. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression analysis and marketing margin and efficient analysis. The study revealed that 80% of the respondents were young and active while the 20% remaining were aged. Analysis also showed that fish marketers were dominated by females which accounted for 80%. The marketing margin and efficiency shows that retailer has a greater market margin of 12.3% to that of wholesaler which is 8.95%. On the other hand the wholesalers had a greater percentage of 94.24% in marketing efficiency, while retailers had about 91.90% in market efficiency. Responses of the respondents showed that the problems of fish marketing were transportation problem, inadequate market infrastructure, inadequate funding, shortage of processing facilities and seasonality and perishability of fish products. To improve fish marketing and food security situation in Nigeria, it is recommended that adequate transportation facilities, in terms of good roads and functional vehicles should be provided by governments, private individuals and cooperative groups. Also research into post-harvest storage and processing techniques should be intensified and finally, funds should be made available through formal and informal sources to fish marketers so that they can take advantage of bulk purchasing, market expansion and processing.