Fish

IMPORTERS of fish into the country have maintained that if local fishermen are supported and encouraged to produce adequate fish to meet local demand, there was no need for fish to be imported.
They also mentioned packaging as a key element to consider in the desire to create demand for local fish.
In separate interviews in Accra this week, the fish importers were unanimous that they had resorted to importing fish to supplement national dietary requirement because local fishermen were unable to meet their demands.
Visits to cold stores in Accra by the Daily Graphic also revealed that even the imported fish was in short supply, causing a sharp decline of many cold store businesses.
The fish importers said they had observed that consumers preferred imported fish to local fish because the former was better in terms of packaging, convenience and availability.
Unlike the local fishes which are mostly sold in pans by the roadside and at very expensive prices, the imported ones are mostly packaged in cartons and less expensive.
Whereas 20kg of imported fish (one carton) costs GH¢82, the local fishermen sell a small size of redfish for GH¢4 and one cassava fish for GH¢10.
“We are ready to buy from whoever is ready to sell to us but the problem is that our local fishermen are not ready for competition”, Mr Kennedy Owusu, Sales Manager of Francopat Coldstore, said.
He said most fish consumers preferred assorted fishes to herrings and salmon, which were mostly caught by local fishermen.
“Herrings is no business to the coldstore operator but the local trader”, he added.
He also explained that most fish consumers were mostly attracted by the packaging and handling of the fish by fish sellers.
Mr Owusu said if the local fishermen were prepared to repackage themselves to meet the demand on the market then fish importers and consumers were ready to buy from them.
“Currently we have no fish to sell but as a business man I cannot spend the whole day at the sea waiting for a fisherman to return with fish for me to buy. It is because of the convenience that is why we buy the imported ones; it is already packaged, easy to carry and comes in very large quantities”, he said.
An official at the Beyeeman Freezing Company Limited also said most fish importers preferred imported fish because it was less expensive as compared to local fish.
Some fish sellers at the Kaneshie Market expressed concern about the shortage of imported fish, explaining that the shortage had caused a decline in their daily sales.