ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to the Institute of Rural Management Anand to have provided us the opportunity
to conduct this study under the organisational Traineeship Segment. We also thank
Prof.L.K.Vaswani, our faculty guide and Prof Rajesh Nair for the valuable guidance they have
provided during the course of this study.

We express our gratitude to Mr.Vivekanandan, the CEO of SIFFS for his valuable inputs and
advices in conducting this study.

We wish to thank all the officials of SIFFS for their inputs and support and our sincere thanks to
Mr. Auxilio Rose - our Project officer - and Mr. X. Joseph - our Reporting Officer - for the
guidance and help offered by them.

Last, but not the least, we extend our sincere gratitude to all the commission agents, wholesale
merchants, head load workers, retailers and exporters whom we visited, without whose help and
co-operation this study could not have been completed.

James Abraham
Rajesh. R

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I Students’ Name : James Abraham, Rajesh R

II Organisation : South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies, Trivandrum.
III Reporting Officer : Mr. Auxilio Rose, Executive, Post Harvest Department, SIFFS
IV Faculty Guide : Prof. L. K. Vaswani
V Project Title : Fish Marketing Systems Study

SIFFS is an apex federation of fishermen societies mandated at providing marketing support to

traditional fishermen. It has a strong procurement system in hand. SIFFS wants to enter the
wholesale marketing by supplying fish directly into the markets, thus avoiding numerous
middlemen present now. The organisation, without any direct marketing experience or
knowledge about the wholesale markets and the systems prevailing there, wants to have a
detailed study and a profile of these markets.

The Objective of the study was to understand the wholesale fresh fish market systems in Kerala
and Tamil Nadu and to profile certain select markets. It also aimed to analyse the potential of
SIFFS in entering the wholesale marketing.
The Methodology of the study included semi-structured interviews with the commission agents,
wholesale fish merchants and transporters. Our observations of the markets visited were also
used. A checklist was used to collect primary data. Secondary data were collected from SIFFS
documents, related literature and internet.
The Scope was limited to wholesale fresh fish markets of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Major Findings: Peculiar market systems have evolved over a period of time in wholesale fish
marketing. Due to seasonality problems, the producer-wholesaler interface in wholesale
marketing is not stabilised resulting in inefficiencies creeping in the system. Markets differ from
each other in the systems of procurement, handling and delivery. Commission agency system is
pivotal in conducting trade in wholesale markets. Kerala markets can broadly be classified into
Southern, Central and Northern markets based on differences in market systems and species
preferences. Tamil Nadu markets are less competitive when compared with their counterparts in
Kerala due to the lower per capita consumption of fish. A detailed profiling of the major
wholesale markets in Kerala and Tamil Nadu has been conducted as part of the study.
The strength and weakness of SIFFS in comparison to the major wholesalers were analysed and
found that a strong procurement system is the unique advantage of SIFFS over others. But the
absence of necessary resources – both human and financial – is the major handicap. The growing
wholesale fish industry gives immense opportunity while the adverse government policies and
chances of reactive attacks by existing major suppliers pose major threats to the possible
interventions of SIFFS.
Suggestions: SIFFS should enter the wholesale fish marketing to stabilise the producer-
wholesaler interface. Operations should cover all the major wholesale markets with a detailed
business plan and necessary infrastructure. A strategic conception of business is to be evolved in
developing a sustainable presence in marketing and an efficient linkage between the existing
procurement system and the marketing system is to be developed.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.
Chapter 1. Design of the Study
1.1 Background……………………………………………………………..1
1.2 Decision problem……………………………………………………….1
1.3 Research problem……………………………………………………….1
1.4 Research Objectives…………………………………………………….2
1.5 Working Definitions…………………………………………………….2
1.6 Sources of Data………………………………………………………….3
1.7 Information Requirements………………………………………………3
1.8 Methodology…………………………………………………………….3
1.9 Sampling Plan…………………………………………………………. .4
1.10 Scope of the Study……………………………………………………...4
1.11 Limitations……………………………………………………………...4

Chapter 2. Fisheries Scenario in Kerala and Tamil Nadu……………………………5

Chapter 3. Marketing Channels of fresh fish in Kerala and Tamil Nadu

3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………8
3.2 Marketing System Components………………………………………….8
3.3 Marketing Channels……………………………………………………...9
3.4 Exporters’ Procurement System…………………………………..……..12

Chapter 4. Wholesale Fish Marketing Systems

4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………..….….14
4.2 Market Systems………………………………………………………......14

Chapter 5. Wholesale Fish Markets of Kerala and Tamil Nadu

5.1 Wholesale markets of Kerala………………………………………..…….21
5.2 Wholesale Markets of Tamil Nadu……………………………………......28
5.3 Seasonality of major fish varieties in Kerala and Tamil Nadu markets.....30

Chapter 6. Analysis
6.1 Wholesale marketing requirements.…………………………..……..……31

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 6.2 SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………………34

Chapter 7. Findings and Suggestions

7.1 Suggestions and Recommendations…………………………………………39
7.2 Proposed Business Plan……………………………………………………...41
7.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...44

References

Appendices

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 LIST OF FIGURES
Page No.

Fig. 3.1 - Marketing Channels of Fresh Fish………………………………………9

Fig. 5.1 - Wholesale fish markets of South Kerala………………………………..21

Fig. 5.2 - Wholesale fish markets of Central Kerala………………………………22

Fig. 5.3 - Wholesale fish markets of North Kerala………………………………...23

LIST OF TABLES

Table. 5.1 - Species Identification of the Kerala Markets…………………………27

Table. 5.2 - Ranking of Markets based on Absorption Capacities……………… ..27

Table 5.3 - Species identification of the Tamil Nadu Markets................................29

Table 5.4 - Seasonality of fish varieties...................................................................30

Table 7.1 – Staff requirements for proposed business plan……………………......42
Table 7.2 – Break even volume of operations……………………………………..42
Table 7.3 – Financial estimate for wholesale operations………………………….44

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1 – Proforma data collection sheet

Appendix 2 – Profile of the select markets of Kerala

Appendix 3 – Profile of the select markets of Tamil Nadu

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CDS - Centre for Development Studies

EEZ - Exclusive Economic Zone

FAO - Food and Agricultural Organisation

IRMA - Institute of Rural Management Anand

KKF - Kanyakumari Fisheries

NGO - Non-Governmental Organisation

OAC - Organisational Action Component

OBM - Out Board Motor

OTS - Organisational Traineeship Segment

SIFFS - South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies

SMF - Sahaya Matha Fisheries

SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

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