Nature and performance of smoked marine fish markets. Evidence from Ghana

This paper assessed the smoked marine fish markets along the Central-Ashanti region trade corridor of Ghana by adopting the structure-conduct-performance framework. Through a multi-stage sampling technique, 158 fish smokers, 100 wholesalers, and 120 retailers were sampled for primary data collection. Using the market concentration ratio and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, the smoked marine fish market was found to be very competitive during the major season and weakly oligopolistic during the minor season, regardless of the fish type traded. The conduct of key market players was done in an open environment devoid of interference or collusion, with minimal entry barriers, if any. Consistent with a priori expectations, the smoked marine fish market performed much better at the retail node than at the processing and wholesale nodes of the chain. However, the most popular marketing channel through which smoked marine fish flows from fish smokers to final consumers via wholesalers and retailers was identified as the least efficient in terms of performance, irrespective of the fish type traded and the season within which the trading occurred.