Year of publication 2013

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Pages 65 p.

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Author Ilibezova, S.;Kerimbekov, I.;Tenizbaeva, S.;Fisheries and Aquaculture Management Division

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Publisher FAO ;

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Product type Book (series)

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ISBN 978-92-5-108017-7

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Series title FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular

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Series number 2070-6065|20706065 - C1087

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Edition 1

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Synopsis (short abstract) A country-wide survey was carried out to assess the status, trends and issues related to fish production, marketing and consumption in the Kyrgyz Republic. The methodology adopted was a combination of structured questionnaires and one-to-one interviews that collected data from 1167 respondents, which included fish farmers, vendors/sellers of fish and fish products, consumers of fish and fish products and key informants. The emerged trends and issues from the survey results were presented and in terpreted under fish production, trade and consumption. Since independence, the fish production in the Kyrgyz Republic is not realized to its potential due to knowledge gaps in innovative technology and good management practices in aquaculture and fisheries. Inconsistent supply of quality fish seed, lack of access to fish feeds and credit, and total absence of state support services were the main constraints. Farmers see opportunities to develop recreational fisheries in their aquaculture ponds . The main constraints to a developed fish marketing are related to infrastructure and institutional management. The majority of markets are rather poorly endowed with basic infrastructure and services for food handling. Knowledge deficit on modern sanitation techniques and quality control, management of hygiene of fish handlers, and distantly located markets from fishers are also constraints in fish marketing. A vigorous attempt to improve the system should begin by a very careful and detailed evaluation of the problems in the market and marketing system. The quality of unprocessed fish during transit from harvest to the consumer cannot be assured as the present system of inspection and quality control is restricted mainly to the processed fish products. The price of fish is influenced by the price at which the middlemen/wholesalers buy their fish and the amount of profit they intend to gain, and it is fixed through supply and demand interaction. The marketing inefficiency too contri butes to unregulated price margins. In proportion to other commodities, fish prices have recently increased and this discourages increasing per capita fish consumption. The share of fish in the food basket offered by catering entities averages 19 percent, while the share of fish and fish products in the total food basket of a household amounts to less than 9.7 percent. The indications are that to increase this share, fish prices must go down. Fish selling business is dominated by females, mainl y in the post-harvest sector due to their involvement in household-based small-scale fish processing. Exporters perceived that low-interest credit and improved legislation to streamline export procedures, elimination of corruption and access to information, particularly on pricing policies, quality standards, and forecasted fish consumption and demand are key to improve the export industry. The report includes a set of recommendations to address the issues emerged from the survey related to fish production, marketing and consumption.

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Language English

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