All it took was one « citizen’s » action to reveal a fundamental problem: the lack of regulation in the fish industry and the excessive margins of middlemen which severely penalize consumers.

Abdellah, a young fishmonger in Marrakech, decided to slash prices to rock-bottom: sardines at five dirhams per kilogram, whiting at 40 dirhams, squid at 50 dirhams and swordfish at 90 dirhams. « Take a tour of the markets, you won’t find similar prices, » he asserts in videos posted on social media.

And indeed, in a supermarket in Casablanca on Monday February 24, sardines were sold for 13 dirhams a kilogram, whiting for 80 dirhams, squid for 111 dirhams and swordfish for 140 dirhams. An shocking price differential that consumers have to put up with, despite the country’s wealth of fish resources. « Morocco has an abundance of quality seafood in sufficient quantities, but the selling price has become unbearable for a large proportion of Moroccans, » laments Abdellah.

This young fishmonger explains that he makes do with a profit margin of one dirham per kilogram on any type of fish. He says the problem lies with the middlemen who « inflate the selling prices all out of proportion« . « These margins exceed all logic, except that of greed« , said Abdellah, adding that this practice sometimes leads to an increase of over 200% compared with the real cost of the product.

Shock price makes waves

Possibly as a result of his pricing scheme, Abdellah was banned from the wholesale fish market in Marrakesh. « Some fishmongers asked the market manager to ban me. But I haven’t done anything illegal« , said Abdellah.

However, getting kicked out of the market may have turned into an opportunity: several fishing boat owners offered to sell him their fish directly, without going through the wholesale market. « This has enabled me to reduce my prices even further, while maintaining my margin of one dirham per kilogram« , he boasts.

Abdellah’s initiative is provoking a variety of  reactions within the local fishing industry.

Mehdi Ayar, a fishmonger active on social media with over 116,000 subscribers on TikTok, believes that it is virtually impossible to sell sardines in Casablanca at 5 dirhams per kilogram.  Currently, the wholesale price is close to 400 dirhams per case. « Some may sell one category of fish at a loss, to attract customers to other, more profitable fish. But selling at a loss remains a personal choice« , said Ayar.

The meddling of middlemen

For the moment, Abdellah’s pricing initiative remains an exception to the rule. In Oujda, for example, a fishmonger did offer sardines at five dirhams per kilogram, but only on a promotional basis during the grand opening of his store. It’s hard to say whether this was selling at a loss. However, it is legitimate to ask: does this price reflect the true cost of sardines if fishmongers limited themselves to reasonable margins?

The issue of higher prices due to middle men margins is crucial. A tender document issued by the National Fish Office in Dakhla mentions a wholesale price for sardines of just 2.5 dirhams per kilogram. The difference between the price at source and the price paid by end consumers highlights the scale of the margins applied throughout the distribution chain.

As to whether or not selling sardines in Marrakech or Oujda for five dirhams a kilogram allows fishmongers to benefit from a small margin, the answer is more complex than it seems. « The cost of fish in Morocco, and sardines in particular, changes by a factor of two as it passes from the shipowner to the wholesale market, then into the hands of semi-wholesalers and finally onto the stalls of the retailer before reaching the end consumer« , explains a member of the South Atlantic Chamber of Maritime Fisheries.

« The difference is sometimes explained by the cost of storage, crating, ice purchases and transport. But it can also be explained by the greed of certain links in the chain, which impose considerable margins« , he continues, explaining that « the intermediaries who dominate the sea fishing industry, particularly in small-scale fishing, capture the bulk of the revenue« .

If the government were able to better supervise the intervention of intermediaries and impose strict regulation on this market, it could make fish more accessible and limit the impact of speculation on prices. Such a reform « would benefit all social categories, by ensuring that the country’s fish resources are sold at fairer prices in line with their real cost« , continues our interlocutor. This measure would be all the more crucial as it would give Moroccan households access to an essential source of protein at affordable prices.

Written in French by Younes Saroury; edited in English by AngloMedia Group