a socio-economic baseline assessment of the mnazi bay - IUCN

Sun drying fish (by M. Samoilys)
Hot drying fish (by E. Mottier)
There are a high number of fresh fish (including ‘dagaa’) traders, this being the main product traded.
Numbers vary according to the time of the year. Men sell fresh fish (not ‘dagaa’) and a large number
of women sell fresh and dried ‘dagaa’. The number of women traders increases during the cashew
season when demand for fish increases. Table 23 summarises findings on quantities sold, margins
and perceived changes by the traders.
*Fish may be bought fresh and dried by the trader. The margins mentioned in Table 23 take account
of the weight loss. To produce a kg of dried sea cucumber, on average 2 Kg of wet sea cucumber are
needed, however this varies according to the species (Agent, pers. Comm.). To produce 1 Kg of dried
fish, 2.5 Kg of wet fish was found to be needed. Traders noted that this was not so in Mozambique
where fishers add a lot of salt to increase the weight, thus with 2 Kg of wet fish they produce 1 Kg of
dried fish.
Amounts traded vary highly according to seasons and according to the buying capacity of the traders.
Thus, figures mentioned are only indicative. Agents and exporters were able to provide figures that
are more reliable. Figures were usually given per trip (that is 3-5 days) except for fresh products. The
bulk of octopus is traded during spring tides.
4.5.1.1 Sea cucumbers
According to sea cucumber traders, the availability of sea cucumbers has dramatically decreased in
the Marine Park and quantities traded have decreased by at least 60%. On average, a small sea
cucumber trader will sell 10 to 20 kg of sea cucumbers per week to the agents. Depending on the
species, the trader will make a profit of 20 to 30% (2 to 8 USD mark up depending on the species).
The price at which the agents sell them to exporters was not known. Thus, traders’ income (not net)
will amount to 20 to 60 USD a week, 3 to 9 USD a day. However, the most common species
nowadays are ‘vipara’, smaller sea cucumbers on which the mark-up is more often 2 to 4 USD than 8
USD per Kg. Traders noticed that smaller sized sea cucumbers are now caught. This was observed
by Richmond et al. (2004), a similar impression was given by the agents.
Although the agent consulted could not give a precise idea of how much of his sea cucumber came
from the Marine Park, according to him a large proportion came from Msimbati. Quantities sent to Dar
es Salaam from this one agent only were found to be 1500 Kg for February, March and April only. The
rest of the year, 500-700 Kg are sent every 3 to 4 months. Thus, a total of 3000-5000 Kg of sea
cucumbers are exported per year by one agent. The export price was not known.
Sea cucumber prices are perceived to have increased significantly. Groups mentioned that some
prices had doubled or trebled in the last 10 years particularly for the Holoturia Scabra at 20-30 USD
per Kg, Actynopyga Mauritania at 20-25 USD per Kg and smaller species or individuals at 5-8 per Kg
dried. The number of traders has increased in some villages and decreased in others.
According to the sea cucumber trader groups, the price increase has offset the decrease in the
quantity of sea cucumbers traded and incomes have increased. This particularly where number of sea
cucumber traders has dropped (i.e. Mkubiru and Mitambo).
51