Re: [Sarnissa-french-aquaculture] [Sarnissa-african-aquaculture] [{SPAM?} score 12.0] African catfish trade

Dear Dr. Victor, I consult on marketing and economic issues for a large project that is in the pipeline for Botswana. I will provide more detail on this project, in the future as some issues is still somewhat sensitive. I have gathered extensive information on Southern African markets in the previous 5 years and can advice you as such: · African Catfish is not a good seller in the South African markets or some of its neighbours. I noticed from religious aversion by some (who do not eat fish without scales), to others rejecting the fish due to it’s slightly darker flesh compared to Pangasius for instance. · I did notice that in places where people are use to the fish (the DRC for instance), that it can be very popular. I saw some information on Kenya and am sure that Nigeria produce volume. · Prices are difficult to obtain. In Zambia, a trader said that he could sell about 1 ton a month compared to 300 ton Tilapia, and the Catfish price was about 40% of the Tilapia price. Other varieties of Catfish seem to be doing well in other places in the world. With regard to prices for African catfish, it is difficult to obtain, as this species is so far either not traded internationally, or they have been included in “Other freshwater fish” in statistics. I had interviews with South African growers who closed operations down due to not covering production cost in the selling price. I would love to hear from others. Julian van der Nat 2010/3/8 Pouomogne Victor &lt;pouomognev(a)yahoo.fr&gt; -------------- section suivante -------------- Une pièce jointe HTML a été nettoyée... URL: <http://lists.stir.ac.uk/pipermail/sarnissa-french-aquaculture/attachments/20100308/e6a2f155/attachment.htm>