This study will determine baseline information on the region's existing marketing strategies and market structures of fish and shell. It will also consider benchmark data on the domestic consumption of fish shells, fish shell species preferred, and the daily volume of fish shells sold in local markets in the Province.

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BRENT GREG E. GOMUAD. May 2009. “Assessment of marketing strategies and
consumption of fish and shells” Mountain Province State Polytechnic College, Tadian, Mountain
Province.
This study will determine baseline information on the region's existing marketing
strategies and market structures of fish and shell. It will also consider benchmark data on the
domestic consumption of fish shells, fish shell species preferred, and the daily volume of
fish shells sold in local markets in the Province.
The Eastern Mountain Province consumption of fish was estimated at around 3.08
kilos a month and 2.90 kilos a month in Western Mountain Province. Most consumed
are Jojo and Bunog, which are also the most popular local fish. At the same
time, Leddeg/Lesdeg and besukol were the most popular shell amounting to 3.55 tsupas or
around 2 kilos a month in eastern Mountain Province and slightly lower with 3.05 tsupas (1.8
kls) monthly consumption in Western Mountain Province. The Province's mean monthly
consumption is 3.0 kilos and 3.28 tsupas for local fish and shell, respectively.
The most popular marine fishes that any eating municipality of Mountain Province
cannot ignore are Bangus, Tilapia, and Bulilit. On average, 11,872 kilos or 11.87 tons of fish
were sold and consumed monthly in Eastern Mountain Province and 4,341 kilos or 4.34 tons
in the western part of the Province. A total of 16. tons of marine fish were sold/purchased for
the six selected municipalities of Mountain Province.
Farmer-fisherfolk operators rely on limited household savings to finance indigenous
or local fish and other fishing-related operations. Few farmer-fisherfolks avoid formal credit
from commercial banks and private lending institutions because of paperwork and
requirements. The majority of the respondents do not know the presence of formal credits.
Extension services for indigenous or local fish and shell operations are virtually
none. Most farmers, particularly during fish and shell production, catching, and marketing,
provide each other with indigenous or local fish advisory services as part of their "og-ogbo"
practice. Weak social "inter-municipality networks" facilitate poor technical information
exchange and dissemination of knowledge among farmers. Government agencies providing
technical advice to indigenous or local fish and shell farmer-fisherfolks lack budgetary
requirements, thus limiting the number of agricultural extension workers in rural areas.
Indigenous or local fish and shells are sold live, fresh, and, to a lesser extent, chilled
or frozen within the municipality. Indigenous or local fish (which includes Eel
or Dalet, frogs, and freshwater shrimps) harvesting is usually timed according to the preferred
mode of consumption or sale and its marketing channel. In the municipality of Tadian,
Western Mountain Province, catching/gathering frogs, eels, or fish from rivers for
consumption or sale is done late in the evening to coincide with the opening of markets or for
food consumption in the morning or the day. Elsewhere, for fish intended for the markets of
neighboring towns, catching/gathering starts as early as midnight to reach final consumer
destinations before dawn. Harvest time is crucial to pricing for two reasons. First, early arrival
in the market provides better opportunities for ready sales and better prices, given that many
customers want to be assured of an early supply of fish. Second, the entry of more suppliers
over the day tends to saturate supply, leading to lower prices. Some buyers, particularly
restaurants in the Municipality of Bontoc (the Province capital), finance farmer-fisherfolks
farmers to be assured of a steady supply of indigenous or local fish. Under this arrangement,
the farmer must sell exclusively to the buyer at a pre-agreed price. Major marketing issues for
indigenous or local fish include irregular supply, nonpayment of buyer debts, and
"perishability" (particularly when transporting the product).

2. No seasonal off-flavors were observed, rendering the fish less marketable for indigenous or
local fish.
Buyer and seller concentration is high, particularly in Bontoc. With the increasing
popularity of indigenous or local fish like Jojo and Dalet, the number of buyers is substantial.
Farmer's knowledge of the market is often poor. Some farmers leave quickly after incurring
losses, indicative of an unorganized but highly competitive market.
Marketing channels for indigenous or local fish and shells in the Province are
producer-to-consumer. Here, marketing cost is almost nil when the buyer collects the fish and
shell at the farmer and minimal if the farmer or member of the family is the ambulant
vendor. Sales are for cash, seldom on credit. Channels for selling fish markets that own
restaurants are typical, and the channels for shells are for selling around the various market
sites within the community or in neighboring towns and municipalities. Fish market and shell
wholesaler buyers usually pick up fish and shell in the morning delivery and resell them as
live fish and shell to prolong product freshness or cook and serve to consumers. They are
selling around town from gin bottles that hold 400–750 grams of fish and tsupas for shell
(approximately 400 grams/tsupa). Channel involves brokers who initiate sales between the
producers and clients, especially infrastructure "contractors" and politicians consumers.
Brokers do not own the products that they handle. Brokering is typical in Eastern Mountain
Province, particularly with visiting consumers who want an assured supply of indigenous or
local fish. Usually, a broker has an established contact retailer person at a specific market
destination.
A promising channel "centers on the eco-tourism identity" of the Province in the
cooked-served form of indigenous or local fish from restaurants. The channel is relatively
simple: indigenous or local fish goes directly to the restaurant/processor and maintains
contract schemes with several farmer-fisherfolks or local fish farmers to ensure a sufficient
volume of, e.g., Jojo and Dalet for local and foreign visitors. The potential of this marketing
channel can benefit farmer-fisherfolks farmers in two respects. First, they can group
themselves and make contract agreements with a restaurant/processor who can provide
financing arrangements, including from government sources. Second, the prospect of entry
into the export markets for Jojo can improve marketing opportunities for farmer-fisherfolk
farmers.
However, no wholesalers were observed in Eastern and Western Mountain Province
for indigenous or local fish. However, interviews reveal that there were few wholesalers of
shells in Eastern Mountain Province, and they are being marketed at Bontoc. Product
differentiation and pricing are based on fish container size. In Tadian and Bontoc, there were
two pricing schemes. The highest price for Jojo is in a 4X4 bottle of gin, approximately 500-
600 grams/bottle of fish weight, which costs around 140-160 pesos, and the lowest is in a
round post bottle of gin, which costs around 70-100 pesos, about 200-300 grams/bottle of fish
weight. After harvest, Jojo and Gurgurami (Tadian) are usually not sorted and graded into
these containers after harvest. In Eastern Mountain Province, a kilo of Eel costs around 300-
400 pesos at retail markets. The traditional preference for live indigenous or local fish has led
to the development of sales from bottle containers in markets and at the roadside.
Fish and shell farmers-retailers' marketing investments in the Province include fare
(tricycles, jeeps, vans, or buses) and supplies (containers and plastic bags). A day marketing
expense of fish and shell farmers-retailers is PhP 80–240 depending on the area covered in
their community or municipality.
Operating marketing expenses for popular commercial fish, specifically for Bangus,
Tilapia, and Bulilit intended for large fish markets in Bontoc and Tadian, is P3,000–4,000 per
trip. Ambulant fish wholesalers/retailers invest in vehicles and equipment, and their operating
costs include fuel, stall/parking fees, packaging materials (plastics), and ice. Daily meal
expenses of ambulant fish vendors may be P160–400. Marketing investments for market stall

3. vendors and store owners were not noted/recorded because of the difficulties of collecting
comprehensive data.
There is no significant correlation between the number of children or family size and
monthly consumption of fish and shells in Mountain Province. There is also no significant
correlation between monthly fish consumption in Eastern and Western Mountain Province.
However, there is a positive significant correlation between monthly shell consumption of
Eastern and Western Mountain Province as supported.
Recommendations
1. marketing (markets, prices, marketing channels, timing, and volume), access to inputs,
and support services studies should be done with consideration of the unique role the
community or people in the area can play in the sustainable development and conservation of
the whole Mountain Province freshwater resources. This should also be an interesting future
activity.
2. While the local government of Mountain Province and other agencies like DA-BFAR’s
program for fisheries have charted the development of fish farming like tilapia production in
the Province, significant challenges lie ahead in fulfilling “fishery” program targets and
increasing the relevance of fish farming for farmer-fisherfolks farmers and people
experiencing poverty. Thus, it may be a challenging future undertaking by the Provincial
LGU, and concerned agencies should review, re-plan, and strengthen the Province Fish Plan
specifically for the indigenous or local fish and shell for farmer-fisherfolks operators in
Mountain Province maybe “following/patterned” from the Department of Agriculture tilapia
master plan.
The Philippines Department of Agriculture has prepared a tilapia master plan, proposed
directions for tilapia farming up to 2010, and identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats. This master plan addresses strategic targets to meet projected long-term growth,
strategic actions to encourage stakeholder participation, and identifying and establishing
mechanisms that optimize stakeholder cooperation, coordination, communications, and
monitoring. By 2010, the Philippines aims to increase production of farmed tilapia to 250,000
t (from 122,000 t in 2002), reduce production costs, export tilapia, increase consumption of
tilapia, and expand employment opportunities.
3. Studies to improve fishery statistics systems for better fishery resources management, fish
marketing management, and fish marketing planning.