Marketing of fish caught by enclosure fishing in South Ubangi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

A study relating to the marketing of fish caught by fishing with racks was carried out between August 2021 and November 2022 in Sud-Ubangi province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo to evaluate the level of profitability of the wholesale trade. The results showed that the smoking is the most practiced method of conservation for fish intended for sale in the distant market. The cost of wholesale marketing of one kilogram of smoked fish from Bomboma to Zongo is on average 6,222.2FC/Kg (±1,344.3FC) or 2.8$/Kg (at the rate of 1$=2,200FC). This trade generates an average profit of 1 599.4FC/Kg of fish (±1,904.7FC) (equivalent to 0.727$/Kg). The biggest profits made by wholesales whose net earnings are between 5,003.1FC and 6,058.7FC/Kg. but this category represents only 4% of respondents. The selling price shows an upward variation of 3,060FC per Kg (±1,898.6FC) (equivalent to $1.39) about a rate of average increase of 74.7% (±57.5%) in the selling price on board catch which is on average 4761.6FC/Kg (±1,263.2FC) or 2.16$ (at the rate of 1$=2,200FC). This increase is not beneficial to all wholesalers because 26.5% of them record negative profitability due to the high cost of transport. So the gross income generated by this fishery is not equitably distributed between the first two links of the said sector: the share going to the capture (fisherman) represents on average 62.9% (±18.2%) against 37.1% (±18.3%) for the wholesale, mainly dominated by the transaction cost. Thus, once considered as subsistence fishing, this seasonal activity is a significant source of income and can therefore be included in the marketing circuit both nationally and internationally.

Keywords: Distribution, Income, Racks, Fishery, Profitability, Bomboma