Quantity or quality of fish in a developing country: A hedonic analysis

ABSTRACT

The mass production of fish in a developing country like Bangladesh has ensured food security with quality of fish hardly. The purpose of this study thus is to identify the implicit price of the fish quality characteristics. In total, 200 consumers were randomly interviewed from three different coastal districts of Bangladesh where both farmed and wild fish were available. The consumers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire during their purchase and the semi-log functional form of regression model was applied to explore the implicit price of the fish quality characteristics. The findings indicated that consumers’ high payment (at least 61% price premium) on wild fish for its taste, size, and eye character. However, it was found that consumers preferred farmed fish for its freshness and bright color while they disfavored swollen abdomen and odor. The results also revealed that consumers paid 18% more for the farmed fish freshness and 9% less for the fish with odor and swollen abdomen. It was also noticed that quantity of the fish and presence of bones were the influential factors of reducing the price of both fish. The study implies that fish farmers need to produce fish considering quality characteristics rather than producing more since good food ensures good health. The study refers to the implementation of the ‘Government Fishery Act’ for increasing the wild fish stock including different small indigenous species, catfish, and hilsha for consumers’ demands and preferences.

KEYWORDS:

• Fish quality characteristics
• farmed fish
• wild fish
• hedonic price
• Bangladesh

Acknowledgments

The study has financially been supported by a research project (Research and Training Centre, RTC#5921) of Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh. Many many thanks and gratitude to the respondents and enumerators for giving their valuable time and efforts for having the research been successfully done. The special thanks go to Md. Tariqul Huq, Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Barisal, Bangladesh for revising the English languages of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Catfish refers to the inland fish species in Bangladesh which includes aor, boal, rita mostly. The scientific names of these species are sperata aor, wallago attu, and rita rita.