Fishmongers devise new tricks to sell fish from China

Boda boda operators carry cartons containing Chinese frozen tilapia fish from East African Sea Food LTD in Kisumu to the market on February 2, 2018. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

Fish traders in Kisumu and its environs have devised new tricks of selling fish imported from China to unsuspecting customers in the wake of negative publicity.

Residents have a negative perception about fish from China and believe they are not as sweet as those from Nyanza beaches or Ugandan imports.

A stroll at major fish markets in the region including the Kisumu Live Fish Market reveals huge piles of fish being sold. However, it is hard to tell apart local fish and imported Chinese fish.

When The Standard approached one of the traders and asked for fish from China, the answer was simple. “We do not sell them here”. Beneath their stalls, however, tells a different story - torn branded fish boxes concealed from prying eyes.

Moments earlier, one of the traders had claimed that she is the only one who sells legit fish from Lake Victoria. She claimed she gets hers from Yimbo in Siaya County.

In the region, debate over Chinese fish continues to dominate public spheres after the imports started streaming in 2016. Interestingly, unlike other fish suppliers including Ugandans supplying tons of fish who sell their stocks to traders openly, the depots selling Chinese fish have been established in isolated streets.

Branded boxes

Some of the tricks traders have adopted to beat the resentment against Chinese fish include ferrying the fish at dawn or late in the evening before mixing them with others they purchase locally.

The branded boxes detailing the names of the Chinese company importing them and its Kenyan agent supplying the fish are then concealed in sacks or given to street boys to dispose.

At Kondele, one of the fish mongers admitted that they conceal the boxes in which they buy Chinese fish because of the negative reception they continue to get from residents.

“The moment people know that you are selling fish from China, that is the moment you lose customers. Your competitors also use it against you to discourage your customers,” said Maureen Obwa.

She explains that she always gets her supplies from a depot located next to Obunga but also gets a few supplies from Usenge. She ferries hers very early at dawn and places them in a cooler before disposing the branded boxes.

At Dunga beach, a number of traders also admitted to selling fish from China. They ferry their goods very early in the morning before customers come to the beach.

They claim that fish from the region is not enough to meet the high demand of the delicacy among locals.

At the beach, one of the elderly women told The Sunday Standard that she can easily tell between fish from China and local fish by just looking at it.

“The fish is not that fresh because they are kept in fridge for a very long time. That affects even their sweetness and that is the reason most people do not want anything to do with China fish,” she explains.

But why do they prefer China fish?

Interviews as well as a spot check by The Sunday Standard established that they are acquired cheaply at wholesale price as compared to the ones from Lake Victoria’s waters.

When The Sunday Standard visited two suppliers of the fish along Sabuni Road and next to Obunga slums, several traders were busy scrambling for fish stashed in boxes. Others were also busy loading them into matatus very early in the morning.

A number of workers told The Sunday Standard in anonymity that the imported frozen Tilapia which are of various sizes arrive in the country on a daily basis while some of them are stored in godowns in Nairobi.