Agriculture
is the major economic activity of developing economies. In Nigeria, agriculture
provides food for the increasing population; supplies adequate raw materials to
growing industrial sector; is a major source of employment; generates foreign
exchange earnings; and provides market for the products of the industrial
sector (Okumadewa, 1997; World Bank, 1998; Winters, Janvry, Sadoulet and
Stamoulis, 1998; Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO (2006) as cited in Eze,
Lemchi, Ugochukwu, Eze, Awulonu and Okon 2010).

Fish
is a very important agricultural product in the country as it occupies a prime
place in the economy of the country. The term fish is a diverse group of animal
that live and breathe in water by means of gill. Fish is one of the most diverse
groups of animals known to man with over two thousand five hundred species.
There are more species of fish than all other vertebrate (Eyo, 1992).

Fish
is a very important agricultural product in Nigeria, and is largely consumed in
the country especially due to its rich nutritional and medicinal values. More
so, the large coastal area and continental shelf available in the country makes
diverse varieties available in different areas at affordable prices.

Marketing
of fresh fish passes through several market participants and exchange points
before they reach the final consumers. The marketing system and structure is
one of the main circumstances of socio economic condition of the local people
and production system of any area (Alam et al., 2010). It is a chain of
different systems involved in the marketing from production to consumer with
intra-linkages and inter-linkages.

At
various stages in the marketing chain, fish has to be packed and un-packed,
loaded and un-loaded to meet consumer demand. Each handling cost will not
amount so much but the sum total of all loading can be significant, depending
on the length of chain (Ali et al., 2008).

Subsequently,
a greater difference in price paid between urban consumers at the end of the
chain and river bank price at the beginning of the chain can lead to a greater
or wider market margin between the producer and the final consumer. However,
when the market margin is high, it may be used to argue that producers or
consumers are being exploited. Nonetheless, high margin cannot be completely
justified (Ali et al., 2008).

Fish
supply and marketing suffer so many obstacles ranging from shortage of supply,
price fluctuation and spoilage in transit. Despite these, the people involved
in the marketing of the fresh fish appear to be on the increase because of
increase in the population and therefore, the demand tends to be high and
increase in concentration implies more scope for the middlemen to exploit
either the consumers by charging high or the producers by paying them lower
price (Tomek and Robinson, 1981).

Olukosi
and Isitor (1990) opined that marketing margin is an important indicator of
market performance. Usually, the middlemen performing the role of marketing are
being accused of earning higher profits in the marketing system (Bryceson,
1993).

1.2   STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM