4. FISH MARKETING SYSTEM IN VIET NAM

4.1 Main fish marketing channels

Product flow

Fish product flow can follow various channels from the fish producer including fisherfolk and aquaculturalist to the final consumer and can involve varying number of stages. Therefore, the fish market was divided into four main stages: the producer stage, the wholesaler stage including processing, the retailer stage, and the consumer stage including the export and institutional consumer markets.

Since the producer stage is distinguished by two main subsectors, i.e. fish capture and the aquaculture, the flows of fish products can be divided into two types, one for the fisherfolks and the other for the aquaculturalists as presented in Figures 1 and 2.

In reality, fish marketing channels are complicated since market operators may perform more than one marketing function therefore among each type of market operator there may be an internal flow of fish products as in the case of wholesalers. As discussed in the previous chapter, wholesalers were divided into four main types, among which fish products were traded. In order to simplify the fish marketing channels, main types are computed as proportions to total sales to each market operators excluding the portion traded internally at the computed market.

· Marketing channels for products from capture fisheries

The flow of fish products from fisherfolks to wholesalers then processors and export was the main fish marketing channel (Figure 1). Over 90 percent of the captured products were sold to fish wholesaler, of which 62.1 percent were sold to fish processors. The processors in turn exported 94 percent of these products. In the context of the fish capture sector, such flows suggest that the export market played an important role in absorbing the fish products, while the domestic market played an insignificant in the development of capture fisheries.

For the domestic market, the wholesaler was the focal point through which fish was channelled. Very few fish products reached the final consumers or retailers directly. The retailer was the main market operator supplying fish to consumers. Therefore, the flow from fisherfolk to wholesaler, retailer and consumers was the main channel for the domestic market.

· Marketing channels for aquaculture products

The channels of product flows from aquaculture to export and domestic consumer were similar to that from capture fisheries. The market channel to the export market however, was shortened by their access to the processors. The fish farmer sold 33 and 52 percent of their products directly to the processors and wholesalers, respectively. This linkage between the processors and the fish farmer in mobilizing raw materials for processing can be explained as one kind of contract farming practices that ensures the sale of the fish farmers products, and the continuous supply of the raw materials for the processors.

TABLE 79
Types of information often accessed by market operators (%)

Similarly, the marketing channel for domestic market was also shortened by the access of retailers to fish farmers, who operate almost everywhere in the country. The channel through retailers could be one of the shortest possible channels to ensure fresh fish products reaching consumers.

Marketing channels for farmed shrimp to and from wholesalers and processors were specifically examined. Shrimp was a typical product following the major marketing channels identified for the export market (Figure 3). Fish farmer were the major suppliers to the shrimp wholesalers, accounting for 76 percent of wholesalers purchase.

In turn wholesales sold 83 percent of their shrimps to processors (Figure 3). The wholesalers were the main suppliers of raw materials to the processors The exports of shrimp accounted for over 96 percent of the processors total sales..

Money flows

The above sections examined the product channels from fish producers to fish consumers in terms of sales. The following paragraphs discuses the method of payment to the fish producers.

The money flows in fish marketing were mostly conducted in cash as reported by majority of fish market operators (Table 78). Besides, market operators indicated that around 20 percent of the total sales were as deferred payments to customers. The deferred payments (later payment without interest) were normally affected around five days after sales. Letter of Credit (LC) for payment was issued by 44percent of processors. About 90 percent of the payments were done through the LC transaction.

Between 5 and 10 percent of the market operators reported that they were paid in advance for their products, the amount of advance payments being around 10 percent of the total sales. The advance payment indicates a good money flow backwards in fish marketing, and a strong cooperation among fish market operators.

Information

There was also information flow that provided feedback to the early stages of marketing. Accessibility to several types of information by market operators is presented in Table 80. Price was the most frequently accessed information by market operators.. However, information on quality, quantity, species, and even time or location of sales was often not available to the market operators. The situation was worse towards the end of marketing channels where few retailers had access to such information. This indicates that information accessible to market operators was restricted and understanding of demand and supply interaction limited. The problem was further illustrated by the very small proportions of the operators who have access to fish demand forecasts and perspectives.

TABLE 80
Types of information expected by market operators (%)

TABLE 81
Sources of information accessed by market operators (%)

Around two thirds of the market operators wished to have access to sufficient information on the quantity, species, time, locations, and future demand for fish consumption as presented in Table 80. Under this perspective, the creation of market centres for fish products would be helpful where fish product and information flow run parallel.

Apart from market information, awareness of credit service and related policies and regulations was also limited since less than 20 percent of the operators have access to this type of information. Furthermore, it was necessary to disseminate the relevant information on policy, regulation, and assistance from the Government or institutions related to fish market development as expected by large proportions of the market operators as presented in Table 80.

Except processors, the fish wholesalers were key informants for 70 to 90 percent of all the other market operators (Table 81) This indicates that the wholesalers, who operate in the middle stages of marketing channels, would provide the best connection for producers with the market.

Beside the vertical marketing channels as discussed, a horizontal information channel should be taken into consideration because many market operators reported that the market information could be accessed from their fellow operators as presented in Table 81, especially retailers, wholesalers and producers.

4.2 Prices

The longer the fish product channels the higher the price margins. This means that prices go up with increasing number of transactions in the fish product channel. Marketing margins channels depend on marketing costs incurred. However, the results of the survey provide only very limited insights with regard to prices at different levels. This section is to briefly examine changes in fish prices within Hanoi city and from provinces to Hanoi city. Carp, major carps and mackerel are selected as examples for the analysis.

For carp for Hanoi City, it is seen that from fish farmers to institutional consumers, fish price went up gradually with the mark-ups of 13.2 percent accrued to the wholesaler, 18.4 percent to the retailers, and 18.6 percent to the institutional consumers. In other words, in this case the price paid by customers was VND 22 400, of which 8.3 percent of the price was paid to the wholesalers, 13.1 percent to the retailers, and 15.7 percent to the institutional consumers. For the major carps, the price went up gradually until the product reached the final consumers. The changes in fish price at the wholesaling and retailing stages were 24.3 percent and 29.3 percent respectively. This represents a 62 percent price rise at the consumer level as compared with the farm-gate price.

For mackerel from Nghe An province to Hanoi city, this was a long fish marketing channel for the distance to be covered. There was a big difference in retailing price at site and in Hanoi city. Compared to the wholesaling price in Nghe An, the in-situ retailing price was 17.9 percent higher, while that at Hanoi city was much higher at 41.5 percent. There were indications that fish distribution over long distances was still limited and weak, resulting in higher fish prices for consumers, and lower prices for fish producers. Thus, efficient distribution channels for fish marine products should be set up to serve the inland consumers better. However, a prerequisite would be more investigations into marketing costs and margins to substantiate and specify this recommendation.

4.3 Fish marketing operations

Sales systems

In this section, examines how fish was traded in the market and how market operators could come together for fish trading.

· Sales operation by market operators

Fisherfolks and fish farmers were the primary fish producers with the major function of fish production. Fish products were mostly sold at landing sites or farm gates. The fish farmers are very much dependent on fish sales. Fish products may take several days to sell depending upon how much fish they have harvested. Small fish ponds, cages or rafts are make useful storage facilities that can be used to reduce market price pressure or fluctuations, and keep the products alive or fresh to better serve consumers. Normally, fish are harvested at very early hours in the morning from around three to five a.m., and then they are sold to either fish wholesalers or retailers.

In HCMC, a shrimp wholesale centre has been operating for nearly one year. Samples of shrimp from districts of the city and near-by regions are displayed at the centre, shrimp transactions are accomplished as soon as the shrimp farmers and the traders come to an agreement on price and quantity agreement. The wholesale centre provides the opportunity for shrimp farmers and traders to interact and for accessing substantial information on shrimp production and market demand. This model would seem to be a good example to be replicated for other fish products and in other regions.

Compared with the fish farmers, fisherfolk were in a weaker position for selling their landed produce due to additional preservation and storage costs that they may incur. The longer the storage time before sales, the higher the costs and risk of losses. Therefore, once a fishing boat has landed, fisherfolk may have to sell the catch as soon as possible. The prices fisherfolk may realise for their fish may also be affected by the number of boats docked in any given place and period; oversupply may drive down prices For example, in Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces cases were reported where fisherfolk had to accept commission on sale with an unspecified price to be determined later following onward selling.

It is necessary to establish firm coordination between fisherfolk and inland markets to ensure a smooth flow of fish products to the inland consumers. Better fish marketing facilities including storage and transportation would help to improve the situation.

Fish wholesalers are diverse in forms and operations as discussed in the previous chapter. Fish wholesalers who operate away from the coast are usually multifunctional. They deal directly with fish farms and sell to fish retailers or other traders at pond side of the fish farmers. In general, the multifunctional wholesalers have a very close relationship with both fish farmers and fish retailers. They may set up their own soft loan packages or provision of inputs like feeds and fingerlings to assist farmers. In return, they have a stable source of fish products for their business. The operation of the multifunctional wholesalers was effective as perceived by the fish farmers in Hanoi city. The fish retailers or other traders however, may be linked to several single wholesalers, whose products may be seasonal or limited to some specific products, Therefore, it is possible that a specific fish product may be available in one market, but not in another market nearby.

For marine capture fisheries first fish wholesalers primarily operate at fish landing places. Similar to the multifunctional wholesalers, the first wholesaler has a close relationship with fisherfolk. The catch by fisherfolk may be relatively stable over time; however, the purchasing capability of the first fish wholesalers was very much dependent on the absorption capacity of the inland market, (final consumption and processing). Therefore, access of the first fish wholesalers to inland markets was critical for improving the marketing of the catch of the fisherfolks.

Another type of fish wholesaler was the last-stage fish wholesaler who often operates at trade markets. The last-stage wholesalers obtain fish from other wholesalers and sells to retailers in specific geographical areas. In the inland market, it was rare to find a last-stage fish wholesalers dealing in fresh fish products. Several were identified in big cities (Long Bien market in Hanoi city or Hoa Binh, Cau Ong Lanh markets in HCMC). It was necessary to pay attention to the last-stage wholesalers since they play a decisive role in fish distribution to consumers.

Besides the above mentioned types of wholesalers, intermediate wholesalers coexist linking the first wholesalers with the last-stage ones, or with other traders like fish processors. The role of the intermediate wholesaler will continue to be significant unless fish marketing infrastructure was improved or market access for the first or last-stage wholesalers improved.

In summary, fish wholesalers play a very important role in the market. In order to increase the market access and the sales systems, it was necessary to improve fish marketing infrastructure, specifically market centres and facilities.

Fish retailers mostly operate in retail market centres. Consumers come and purchase fish directly. The fish price was bargainable depending on freshness, size, and species. In some rural areas, fish was sold near-by roads, highways, or at cross-roads where consumers have easy access. These fish markets are temporary and unroofed. Processed fish products like frozen, canned, fish sauce, or dried may be sold in supermarkets. Fish sauce and dried fish products can be found in most groceries. There are shops specializing in retailing fish sauce or frozen and canned products.

· Sales coordination among market operators

Marketing agents operating in the chain have close relationships. This helps to ensure a smooth flow of fisheries products through different stages. These paragraphs examine the arrangements marketing agents make for their purchase or sales of fisheries products.

a. Sales agreements

Sales are agreed from one day to several months before the transaction of products or it was perceived as the regular transaction between the seller and the buyer so that no further arrangement was needed. Among the marketing agents surveyed, the majority has sales arrangements as presented in Table 82. Less than half (43.7 percent) of the fisherfolk do not have agreements since a large proportion of them do not have a stable landing site; landing places can vary according to fishing trips. In this case the product transaction and price setting was done as soon as the boats are anchored. In such situations, it was reported that fisherfolk often are at a disadvantage when sales prices are fixed.

TABLE 82
Percentage of respondents with a sales agreement

Sales agreements may be formal or informal arrangements, the majority being informal. It means that price, quantity and other trading conditions are set orally. Table 83 shows that there was only a small fraction of producers and wholesalers haveing legal contracts with trading partners, who are often fish processors. This was the pattern of contract farming promoted by the legal framework of the Government. Notably, a majority of the processors (66.3 percent) has sales agreements with trading partners, especially with foreign importers.

TABLE 83
Types of sales agreement by respondents (%)

b. Purchasing arrangements

Similar to the sales agreements, purchasing arrangements are undertaken by various marketing agents to stabilize the supplies of raw materials for processors, wholesalers and large consumers (Table 84).

TABLE 84
Percentage of respondents with a purchase agreement (%)

Oral purchasing agreements are the main type used by marketing agents, 90.3 percent for the wholesalers and 79.8 percent for the large consumers. Legal contacts are important for processors with 23 percent (Table 85). This pattern of contract farming benefits not only the processors, but also the suppliers, especially the fish farmers or fisherfolks who often have problems with the marketing of their outputs.

TABLE 85
Types of purchase agreement by respondents (%)

Transport

Fish transportation was less of a concern for fisherfolks than for fish wholesalers, processors and retailers.

In general, fish was transported by ordinary means of transportation by wholesalers and retailers. Motorbikes are used by 40.9 percent of the wholesalers (Table 86), and 61.4 percent of the retailers (Table 87). In addition, trucks are used by 36.2 percent and 40.4 percent of the wholesalers and processors respectively. Frozen trucks are used by 19.2 percent of the processors (Table 88), but wholesalers use them to a lesser extent.

TABLE 86
Types of transportation used by fish wholesalers by region

TABLE 87
Transportation used by fish retailers

TABLE 88
Means of transportation used by fish processors by region

The majority of fish farmers (54.6 percent) consider that their products are normally consumed within their province (Table 89). Freshwater fish farmers report that their products are basically consumed within their district or commune. The situation was similar in the case of fish wholesalers; 54.8 percent are selling their products within their province (Table 90). Only some intermediate wholesalers (16.3 percent) are selling to markets in other provinces. This shows that the current fish marketing system was either localized or restricted to the provincial levels rather than a nationwide system. It may imply that fish was not adequately supplied wherever it was needed.

TABLE 89
Destinations of fish consumption perceived by aquaculturists

TABLE 90
Origin of fish traders in relation to wholesaler type

Storage and preservation

Ice and salt are common material for fresh fish preservation at any fish marketing stage. For fish farmers fish preservation was not a difficult matter since they can keep their products in the ponds. For fisherfolks, ice used for preservation was brought on-board from icemakers situated on land. Several fishers report that the length of their fishing trip was dependent upon the amount of ice available for fish preservation on sea. Only 3.9 percent of the fisherfolks have freezers and 2.8 percent have ice-making machines onboard. It was likely that insufficient supply of ice for fish preservation was a problem for fisherfolks. This problem may result in a high rate of waste or low quality of fish captured.

Very few cases of both fish wholesalers and retailers are equipped with frozen storage or freezers. Only 2 percent of the wholesalers and 1.6 percent of the retailers have freezers, and 2.3 percent and 7.4 percent of the wholesalers have freezer storage and frozen trucks respectively. No multifunctional wholesaler was equipped with these facilities, indicatong that the facilities currently available are neither sufficient for the fresh fish traders nor for the marketing of frozen fish products.

Processing

From Table 91, it may be concluded that at processors level, frozen fish products are the major form of processing. It was produced by 46.3 percent of the processors surveyed and accounts for 78.2 percent of the total quantity of fish processed by these processors. IQF fish products, fillets, canned or ready-made products are minor items in the total output of the processing industry. Fish sauce was a common product, produced by 18.5 percent of the processors. Dried fish was produced by 28.7 percent of the processors, but contributed only to 4.14 percent of the total production. This indicates that frozen products are the major form produced, while value-added products represent a minor part of the total production of the processing industry.

TABLE 91
Forms of fish products by surveyed processors

Note: The total was excluded from sauces

Apart from the fish processing industry, fish was also processed at other levels such as producers and wholesalers. It was found that 18.2 percent of the fisherfolks dried some portion of catch before selling, and 4.1 percent of the wholesalers surveyed dried fish before selling. Several wholesalers also produce fish sauce or paste. However, fish processing at these levels was a minor function.

TABLE 92
Satisfaction on fisheries products purchased (%)

TABLE 93
Cost structure by market operators (%)

TABLE 94
Means of advertisement used by market operators (%)

Quality assurance

In general, fish market operators apply good handling procedures to assure best quality of fish products for the market. It was found that most of the market operators are satisfied with the products purchased in terms of quality, delivery and form of the products. It reveals that the current supply system was operating properly providing supplies for various marketing agents. Only a small fraction of the agents indicate that they are seldom or rarely satisfied with the products purchased (Table 92).

However, fish consumers cannot be sure that they are getting the right quality products at the right time and places. No product guarantee system was available at fish producer, wholesaler, and retailer levels. Only products from fish processors and institutional consumers are equipped with quality assurance systems. It was found that 76.9 percent of the institutional consumers obtained the Safe and Hygienic Food Certificate and 73.5 percent of the processors obtained HACCP certificate, 54.4 percent the GMP certificate, 23.5 percent follow the EU Code, and 16.2 percent the ISO series. These systems of quality management affirm the status of the fish processors in the market and their access to the world market. It was desirable to establish well-recognized quality assurance systems also for the domestic market.

Cost structure of fish market operators

Various costs occur in fish marketing. Table 93 presents the cost structure of selected fish market operators i.e., fish wholesalers, retailers, and processors. For fish wholesalers and retailers, the cost of the fish products purchased was the main cost item that accounts for more than 94 percent of the total cost. Other cost items such as transport, transaction, materials, and advertising are minor. It means that fish wholesalers and retailers are simply buying and selling fish. For fish processors and exporters the situation was different. The cost of fish raw materials accounted for 70.3 percent of the total costs. Higher expenses on transportation, transaction, advertisement, especially labour wages are found, meaning that additional expenses are added to the fish marketing process, which enhances the product value.

Advertisement was not a major concern of the fish marketing operators. Only 5 percent of the retailers (14 cases) and 10.9 percent of the wholesalers (39 cases) report that they spend money for fish advertisement. This was different for fish processors, of which 48.1 percent (52 cases) had spent VND 13.5 million (median)/year for fish advertisement. The retailers and wholesalers spent only VND 0.4 and 1.5 million (median) per year for advertisement respectively. The most common means of advertising for the wholesalers and retailers was the printing of calendars for the occasion of the New Year. The fish processors use various means including Web pages, leaflets, printed documents, and mass media (Table 94).

However, the survey did not provide sufficient results in different cost items. Therefore, it will be necessary to carry out further investigations.

4.4 Infrastructure and equipment for fish marketing

Landing markets

Landing markets are normally adjuncts of landing places or fishing ports. Recently, four new offshore fishing ports and landing markets were opened. The following paragraphs present the organizational structure and operational pattern of the inland Thuan Phuoc fishing port and landing market.

Thuan Phuoc was one of the ten key fishing ports in the country funded by ADB. It was also one of the four fishing ports which perform most effectively in terms of number of boats landed, fisheries logistic services and total revenues. In 2001, the total revenue was about VND 700 million, which was greater than the planned figure of VND 650 million.

The port employs 42 staff working in 4 functional divisions, and 4 units working in areas of trading, cleaning, guarding, and fee collecting. There was one ice-making plant with a capacity to produce 4 000 blocks per day, one filling station of 40 000 litres, one off-shore petrol-selling boat of 50 000 litres, and one freshwater tank of 150 m³. In addition, there are many kinds of informal services provided by local people relevant to fisheries activities including umbrella, tank, basket, scale and tray, leasing service, transportation service and loading/unloading service. The management of the port adopted a decentralization strategy for most activities at the port. Participatory management units for the leasing services were formed, and transportation and loading/unloading services will be organized similarly. Consequently, the environment on the port was kept clean, wastes are well cleared out, security was under control, social evils, which used to be a serious problem, are prevented, and the port was attracting more and more operators for fisheries business in the port.

It was estimated that there are about 20 boats landing per day, 40 percent of which are boats coming from other provinces than Da Nang city. In 2001, the volume traded at the port was about 30 000 tonnes, 60 percent of which were landed by boats; the remaining 40 percent were transported from other provinces inland. Hence Thuan Phuoc was not only a fishing port, but also an inland regional fisheries trading centre, which attracts traders and fishers from different provinces in the region.

In the port, there are about 10 wholesalers, whose trading volume accounted for 70-80 percent of the total. In addition, there are 400-500 traders regularly operating at the port and channelling fisheries products to markets in the city or near-by regions. This shows that Thuan Phuoc functions also as a regional fish market for the city and the regions near-by.

Wholesalers in the port procure fish directly from fisherfolks, then sell the products to processors in the city or elsewhere which may offer better prices, e.g. processors in provinces near-by, or they may export directly. Wholesalers tend to establish long-term, inter-dependent relationships with boat-owners by providing them with favourable credit and inputs like fresh water, ice and petrol. In return, the boat owners have to sell their catch to them at a price established by the wholesalers. Consequently, fisherfolks do not receive a market price, which should be higher than the given price.

Thuan Phuoc fishing port will continue to implement its action strategy in order to boost trading volume and to become a regional trading and landing centre. Principal measures are:

• restructuring management of the port by enhancing the participation of different stakeholders like boat owners, wholesalers, etc.;

• improving quality of the existing services and expanding to other services like boat repairs, gear supply, etc.;

• building up a fisheries trading centre at regional level recognized by the Government and various stakeholders; and

• providing favourable credit to fisherfolks, boat owners and others using funds borrowed from commercial banks or the State budget in order to help boat-owner to become independent from wholesalers.

Inland wholesale markets

Before 2002, the country had no trading centre or a separate wholesale market for fisheries products. Fish trading was normally conducted at landing places, or in a scattered manner at fish traders’ sites. Market information was insufficient and price formation did not reflect actual market price. The following paragraphs present key information on the organization and operation of Can Gio Aqua-product trading centre provided by a Project Mission (Ms. Nguyen Viet Ha, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai, and Ms. Hoang Thi Minh Trang).

In April 2002, Can Gio Aqua-product Trading Centre was opened in Can Gio district under the responsibility of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. This was the first fisheries wholesale market established in Viet Nam. Its main objective was to establish trading relationships between aquaculturalists and fishery processors and exporters. The Centre’s activities concentrate on shrimp trading during the pilot phase. Experiences will be learned for the expansion covering other fisheries products.

The centre was located 70 km west of HCMC and it was open every Tuesday, for the first time on 25 May 2002. The city authorities are planning in the near future, services of feed, medicine and technical advice will be provided to attract more farmers from the district as well as clients from other areas.

In order to acquire shrimp products, shrimp traders need to fill out a registration form either directly by hand or through telephone. Ordering through telephone was common for shrimp traders coming far from the city like Tien Giang, Kien Giang, Ben Tre, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces. The information necessary to register was name and address of the shrimp trader, estimated quantity for the whole year and by given month to be purchased, and the proposed prices for different types of the products.

Sellers at the Centre are the shrimp farmers; they also have to fill out a registration form at the Centre’s office. In this form, the farmers provide information on size, quantity and prices for different types of shrimp offered.

Based on the proposed prices provided in the registration forms by both sellers and buyers, discussions and bargaining would be held to reach a final agreement on prices, size, location and time of the trading, through a memorandum or trading contracts. Another meeting at site or sample harvests may be done to provide more detailed information on the products before the trade.

At the time of the mission in July 2002, there were five enterprises as main shrimp buyers from shrimp farmers, namely CHOLIMEX, COFIMEX, SEASPIMEX, INCOFISH, and Fisheries Company No. 1. For the last 12 trade sessions, the total shrimp quantity offered was 500 tonnes, of which 130 tonnes was traded, according to Mr Hung, the director of the Centre.

Some buyers interviewed on the 13th trading session made different comments about the current performance of the Centre. Some said it took a lot of time and effort to meet with and practically see/inspect the shrimps, which had been offered in the registration form by the shrimp farmers. In many cases, the size of the shrimps mentioned in the form was quite different from the real objects. Both the sellers and buyers had to go though a long process of bargaining and negotiating for price, transportation arrangements and exact date/hour to catch the shrimps. One of the five customers of the Centre, the SEASPISMEX (Mr Thinh, Head of Planning department) explained that the company’s participation in the Centre was considered as the supportive reaction to the policy and experimental efforts made by the City People’s Committee. They accepted some loss in spending time and transport for buying some hundred kg of shrimp whilst the company needs 100-200 tonnes/day. However, Can Gio Centre could help SEASPISMEX to implement a small contract to export HOSO black tiger shrimps as they could buy fresh shrimp with short distance of transportation (70 km). The company used to buy raw material from the Mekong River Delta Provinces namely Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Bac Lieu which was more than 300 km away.

This was the first model for fisheries wholesale market of the country and various difficulties occurred during its operations as mentioned by Mr Hung, the director:

• inadequate of technical staff for assisting shrimp traders and farmers in shrimp transaction;

• lack of experience and systematic classification of the product and estimation of harvests;

• insufficient capability of the Centre in enforcing payment;

• unsuitable taxation policy that hinders private enterprises’ participation at the Centre;

• insufficiency of legal framework for ensuring implementation of shrimp trading contracts between the shrimp farmers and traders, which were occasionally violated, especially when additional profit could emerge for some shrimp farmers. Violation on the size of the product sometimes occurred by the farmers’ overestimation when filling the registration forms at the Centre; and

• around Can Gio district, shrimp culture was mostly done in the pattern of improved extensive farming at small scale level, which could produce a small harvest of 400-500 kg that was inconsistent with much higher quantity demanded by the shrimp traders.

In order to solve these problems, the Centre was aiming at the following improvements:

• construction of shrimp cages, in which shrimp could be stored and displayed at trading sessions so that shrimp traders could have full information on the expected products;

• establishment of kiosks providing feed, drugs, and other fisheries services;

• strengthening of capacity for its staff to better assist in the implementation of contracts or memoranda between the shrimp traders and farmers;

• elaboration of a legal framework for the implementation of the contracts;

• installation of Eliza machine at the Centre for identifying shrimp disease; and

• organization of seminars to disseminate relevant taxation policy on fish trading to various stakeholders especially the private enterprises.

Retail markets and shops

Consumers can buy fish products at various market places. Various kinds of fish species, forms, quantity, and quality are available in the market. Markets are often concentrated in cities and large urban areas and supply food in general and fish in particular to consumers. The following paragraphs are related to retail markets in Da Nang city in the central region of Viet Nam.

Da Nang was a small city with total land area of 1 256.2 km². In the urban area, there are five markets namely Han, Con, Tam Giac, Moi, Dong Da markets and one newly opened supermarket - Da Nang (or Bai Tho) Supermarket. These markets and supermarket are managed by City’s Market Management Company under the City’s Department of Trade. In each market there was a branch of the company organized as a Market Management Unit. This was a unique organizational structure found in Viet Nam; in other provinces and cities markets are not managed by an independent organization. The implications of this organization are (i) security was ensured, pick pocketing and other kinds of social evils are prevented; (ii) the market environment was good since market user-right was clearly defined, market fee was collected, the entry and exit from market place are well managed; (iii) the market infrastructure was well maintained with roofing, water and sanitation; and (iv) there was a strong cooperation among market management units in the city in rush time in terms of security force and equipment sharing. It would be desirable if other provinces and cities would form similar market organization in order to improve the markets in the area.

Visits were paid to Han and Con markets in Da Nang. In Han market there are about 50 retailers selling fisheries products, which mostly are fresh marine species like Ocean tuna, mackerel, crab, shrimp, etc. There are a few retailers selling freshwater species like snakehead, carp, major carps etc. Snakehead was not produced locally but transported from Ho Chi Minh city via airplanes.

At the time of the visit (9.30 am) the number of customers coming to buy fisheries products was limited. From observation, it was clear that the number of sellers was greater than that of buyers. This reveals that fish consumption in the area was likely to be at a low level. This can be proved by the fact that big fish like ocean tuna or mackerel are usually cut into small pieces of 0.2 to 0.4 kg that may fit with local people’s purchasing power. Some retailers said that it was the time of rough seas and the price of fish went up, therefore, people turn to other types of meat other than fish.

It was also observed that retailers did not use much ice for fish preservation. This was likely to be due to the small volume traded, which may make fish costly if ice was used. That was why fish on sale somehow did not look fresh enough to attract customers.

It was also noted that some retailers do not operate for the full month, which may be due to an unstable level of consumption. Therefore, market fee was collected on daily basis of VND 3 000-4 000.

Dried products are found in groceries where agricultural, forestry, fisheries products and sometime consumer’s goods are sold together. Main products are dried squid, shrimp, fish, sea horse, sea dragon, etc. It was found that customers were not in a rush to buy dried products in the city, but some tourists may buy them for consumption in their places of origin.

Da Nang supermarket opened in February 2002 in a majestic building and wellplanned location. However, the number of customers coming for shopping was still low. There was one section to display fisheries products, but only a few products were displayed. Few were produced in the city, the others came from Ho Chi Minh city with some brand-name of SEASPIMEX.

The market management in Da Nang was superior to other localities. The fish retailing network includes markets and a supermarket in the city. However, the consumption level seemed to be low.

4.5 Labour in fish production, processing, and marketing

Labour was an important input for fish production, processing and marketing. Table 95 presents labour usage by various market operators. Aquaculturalists use six persons on average compared with 14 by fisherfolks. Fish processors employ the highest number of labourers with 291 persons in average, while fish retailers employ the least with two persons in average. The figure of wholesalers was three times that of the retailers with six persons. In aquaculture around half of the labour force was self-supplied from fish farmers, while the majority of the labour force under the fisherfolks was hired. Similarly, it was shown that 65.5 percent and 99.7 percent of the labour force of the fish wholesalers and processors are hired. Beside the permanent labour force by market operators, fish market operators also mobilize a huge number of seasonal labourers for fish production, processing, and marketing, particularly processors, aquaculturalists, and wholesalers (Table 98). 60.2 percent of the fish processors surveyed reported that they mobilized 1404.5 workdays in average per year, while from 20 to 30 percent of the aquaculturalists, fisherfolks, and wholesalers mobilized around 200 to 400 workdays per year as seasonal labour force. Therefore, fish processors, fisherfolks, aquaculturalists and wholesalers are the fish market operators, which create additional jobs for local rural employment.

TABLE 95
Labour usage by market operators

From a gender perspective, it was found that fisherfolks are not using female labourers; only 1.4 percent of the total hired labour force are women. Women are not allowed to be onboard during fishing trips. They are employed in inland fisheries for preparation of materials (water, salt, ice, food, fishing gears) for a fishing trip, or sorting fish species, or selling fish. Women are especially involved in fish wholesaling, retailing, and processing, in which the majority of the labour force was female. Women play much more important roles in fish marketing and processing rather than fish production. In the Mekong River Delta, fish trading was women’s work, representing 89.4percent of intermediaries in the market. According to the survey the average monthly income for fish labourers ranges from VND 600 to 1 100 000. Fish wholesalers get the highest average monthly income (VND 1 102.900), followed by fish retailers, fisherfolk, processors, and aquaculturalists. Seasonal labourers obtain daily wages up to 33 200 VND as paid by the fisherfolks, or at VND 21 400 as paid by the fish retailers. The wage rates are comparable to what was paid by other sectors of the country. Therefore, the fish industry not only creates employment for the rural labourers but also generates income for large proportions of the rural population through seasonal employment.

TABLE 96
Source of supplies accessed by fish marketing agent (%)

Note: Multiple responses.

TABLE 97
Preferences of fish suppliers by marketing agents (%)