At the time of the study (May 2000) the bulk of smoked fish imports into the UK from West Africa were coming by air from Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon through Heathrow and Gatwick International airports. Product is also imported from other West African countries and East Africa. The bulk of product from Nigeria is via Gatwick, which receives almost daily consignments. At the time of writing, regular airfreight consignments were arriving into the UK from two EU approved establishments in Nigeria and one in Ghana.
Figure 4: Smoked sardinella (“herring”)
Figures 1 to 4 show smoked fish on display for sale in London. Most smoked fish imported is of freshwater origin. The following is a list of the products and country of origin seen on sale in London during the study:
|
Catfish |
Clarias sp., head to tail with or without stick, Nigeria |
|
Doctor fish |
species unknown, pieces, Ghana |
|
Christal fish |
freshwater catfish, species un-known, whole head to tail, Ghana |
|
Tilapia |
whole, Ghana |
|
Tilapia |
pieces, Ghana, Nigeria |
|
Heterotis |
pieces, Nigeria |
|
Capitain |
species unknown, pieces |
|
Barracuda |
small, whole and head to tail, Côte
d’Ivoire |
|
Mackerel |
head to tail, Côte d’Ivoire |
|
Sardinella |
‘herring’, whole, Côte d’Ivoire |
The Nigerian catfish was typical of that produced in the Lake Chad region of the country. Calabar is another area of Nigeria from which the product is sourced. The sardinella seen on sale was typical of that produced in coastal Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
Data from the UK Tariff and Statistical Office of HM Customs and Excise for the last five years of imports of smoked fish from Africa is presented in Table 1. The data refers to imports of “other smoked fish including fillets” (EC commodity code 030549 80). This is one of nine codes related to smoked fish. The other codes refer to livers and roes; salmon; herring (Clupea harengus, C. pallasii); halibut; mackerel (Scomber scombrus, S. australasicus, S. japonicus); trout; and, eels.
Table 1. Annual recorded imports of smoked fish from Africa into the UK - 1995 to 1999
|
Country |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
||||||||||
|
|
kg |
Value (£) |
£/kg |
kg |
Value (£) |
£/kg |
kg |
Value (£) |
£/kg |
kg |
Value (£) |
£/kg |
kg |
Value (£) |
£/kg |
|
Senegal |
400 |
1 499 |
3.75 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
147 |
911 |
6.2 |
|
|
|
|
Côte d’Ivoire |
575 |
5 462 |
9.50 |
1 140 |
774 |
0.68 |
|
|
|
3 975 |
236 869 |
59.59 |
9 342 |
10 760 |
1.15 |
|
Ghana |
1 005 |
4 841 |
4.82 |
4 148 |
527 939 |
127.28 |
6 733 |
16 392 |
2.43 |
510 |
743 |
1.38 |
816 |
1 210 |
1.48 |
|
Nigeria |
5 958 |
30 832 |
5.17 |
80 |
1 629 |
20.36 |
1 555 |
3 893 |
2.50 |
|
|
|
1 565 |
5 457 |
3.49 |
|
Sierra Leone |
|
|
|
|
|
|
490 |
1 263 |
2.58 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Uganda |
|
|
|
|
|
|
435 |
1 209 |
2.78 |
317 |
1 482 |
4.68 |
|
|
|
|
Togo |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
800 |
684 |
0.86 |
|
|
|
|
Cameroon |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
45 |
803 |
17.84 |
|
|
|
|
Congo |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
220 |
49 951 |
227.05 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
7 938 |
42 634 |
5.37 |
5 368 |
530 342 |
98.80 |
9 213 |
22 757 |
2.47 |
6 014 |
291 443 |
48.46 |
11 723 |
17 427 |
1.49 |
Source: HM Customs and Excise Data from Abacus Data Services (UK) Ltd.
Table 1 shows that over the last five years recorded imports of smoked fish were around 8 tonnes per year and originated from seven West African countries and from Congo. About 37.5% came from Côte d’Ivoire, 32.5% from Ghana and 22.5% from Nigeria. Only Ghana showed imports every year, but especially in 1996 it is not clear what they were. The other countries exported on and off.
Research for this study indicates that the official data significantly underestimates both the level of official imports and of actual imports.
It may be that smoked fish imports from West Africa are recorded under a different code, one not related to smoked fish. It was not possible to verify this assumption during the study. Furthermore, there are clearly a number of inconsistencies regarding the value data in Table 1. Price per kilogram is exceedingly high in some cases. It has not been possible to determine the reasons for these.
The actual quantity of smoked fish that is entering the UK by formal and informal means is much larger and could be as much 500 tonnes per year or over 60 times (!) as high as the officially recorded quantity under EC Commodity Code 030549 80 “Other smoked fish including fillets”. See section “Indicator of Market Size in UK”.
Whereas supply of smoked fish is said to be seasonal, demand for product remains constant throughout the year. Peak supply coincides with peak landings in the countries of origin. For example in Ghana peak landings occur in August and September, the lean season being January to May. During the latter period retailers in London may run short of fish. Observations during fieldwork in London in May 2000 revealed that many retailers were well stocked with product.
