Fish landing price and subjective wellbeing satisfaction of artisanal fishers: A Case of selected landing Sites around Lake Victoria, Tanzania

Abstract

The fishery sector contributes enormously to the development of different economies worldwide and specifically to the people engaged in fishing business. However, causations of fish landing prices and their contribution to the individual satisfaction known as subjective wellbeing of fishers remain unknown. The current study assessed the determinants of fish landing prices for subjective wellbeing of artisanal fishers around Lake Victoria, Tanzania. The study specifically, (i) examined the determination of fish landing price around Lake Victoria; (ii) examined the effects of fish attributes on the landing price; and, (iii) analysed the effects of fish landing price on the subjective wellbeing of artisanal fishers. The study was conducted in Mwanza region and the cross-sectional research design was employed. Purposive sampling was used to select two Districts, Sengerema and Buchosa. A total of six landing sites were selected purposely because of being active in the landing activities and the sale of landed fish. Proportionate sampling followed by simple random sampling procedure was used to select 300 respondents from landing sites. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a questionnaire, focus group discussion, and a checklist for key informant interview. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics were used to identify methods of fish price determination. The results showed that, the most preferred methods in some of the landing sites were formal negotiations with processors (8%), consultation with other traders (73%), informal negotiations with buyers (78.3) and Beach Management Unit (BMU) (21%). Hedonic price function was employed to examine factors influencing landing price. Hours spent from fishing location in the lake to onshore landing sites showed a negative influence on landing price; information on market price and experiences of fishers showed a positive influence on landing price and were found to be statistically significant (P<0.05). The loglinear multiple regression model was employed to examine the effects of fish attributes on the landing price. The results showed that fish freshness for fish landed at the island, the quantity landed at onshore island market, preserved fish as well as fish size, weight, and freshness at mainland landing ground were statistically significant attributes (P<0.05). The ordered logistic regression was employed to make inferences with respect to effects of fish landing price on the subjective wellbeing of fishers. The results showed that fish landing price was statistically significant (P<0.05). This study concluded that there are established ways of determining fish prices around Lake Victoria, and these are influenced by monopolistic behaviour of middlemen during price setting. Also, this study concluded that, subjective wellbeing of fishers is influenced by the fish landing price. It is recommended that, the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries should facilitate the dissemination of market price information for a minimum selling price per fish quality standards, improving artisanal fishers‟ capability on pricing negotiation via BMU. Artisanal fishers are recommended to use improved preservation methods to maintain fish quality, and use of efficient fishing vessels that reduce transportation time. Further, policies and actions recommended on fish price should be set in accordance with the quality of fish attributes through collective agreement between artisanal fishers and buyers. Furthermore, artisanal fishers can come together and form co-operatives for collective purchasing of fishery equipment that can accommodate reasonable sizes of landing fish. They should participate in contractual agreements that allow setting up of minimum fish landing price as a means of capability increase in determining landing price and improvement of subjective wellbeing satisfaction of artisanal fishers.