Seasonal Availability and Price Margin of Freshwater Mud Eel (Monopterus Cuchia) in Dinajpur, Bangladesh

The main purpose of this study is to explore the seasonal availability, marketing channel and price margin of freshwater mud Eel (Monopterus cuchia). There are a number of freshwater and marine Eel species in Bangladesh, Monopterus cuchia is a freshwater species which commonly known as Gangetic mud eel, belongs to the family Synbranchidae under the order of Synbranchiformes. Data were collected through two ways like primary (questionnaire interviews with freshwater eel traders) and secondary (web articles, published reports, papers) and each stage of the survey, data were checked, edited and coded in the field. Data from various sources were coded and entered into a database system using Microsoft Excel Software and SPSS. Marketing season of this study was October to December where Kuchia is more available than other months and less available in December to February. The highest purchase of Kuchia from wholesaler was 5 mt/year and exporter was 12.4 mt/year. The highest purchase volume of Kuchia of wholesaler and exporter was 220 kg and 620 kg respectively. The highest purchase price of Kuchia of wholesaler and exporter was 165 Tk/kg and 212 Tk/kg respectively. Total purchase value of Kuchia of wholesaler and exporter was 453840 to 716800 Tk/year and 1501440 to 2733120 Tk/year respectively. The highest sell price value of wholesaler and exporter was 204 Tk/kg and 315 Tk/kg respectively. The total sell value ranged from 597312 to 897024 Tk/year in case of wholesalers and 2244800 to 4056000 Tk/year.