Marketing margins in warm-water cultured fish of Mazandaran province

Aquaculture is one of the productive activities that can have major roles in increasing production and consumption of fish. The important role of effective marketing in aquaculture is to give enough choice for both producers and consumers from its early start. This research investigates the marketing situation of cultured fish in Mazandaran province and determines marketing margin and effective factors. Results revealed that total marketing margins for common carp, silver carp, grass carp and bighead fish are 10199, 6078, 12371, and 4387 Rials per kilogram respectively and also in all types of fish, the retailing margins are higher than those of the wholesaling margins. The marketing cost coefficients for carp, silver carp, grass carp and bighead are 7.74, 5.81, 12.87, and 11.75 percent respectively. The average marketing inefficiency rates for carp, silver carp, grass carp and bighead are 31.34, 46.62, 25.2, and 62.55% respectively. The estimated marketing margins function for warm-water fish shows high and direct effect of the retail prices and the values of procured products for sale and wholesale prices, marketing costs and the quantity of total production of the farms are also directly affected in marketing margins. This is so due to the nature of price determination in sailors’ fish markets where it depends on the supply and demand in selling times. Planning of some effective policies for controlling the supply and demand is suggested.