Integration of a local fish market in Namibia with the global seafood trade: Implications for fish traders and sustainability

Abstract

Within the last decades, globalization has changed the international seafood trade, allowing low-income countries to access markets in high-income countries and vice versa. Nevertheless, the effects of globalization are controversial and in particular the impacts on small-scale fishers and local fish traders are unclear. This paper examines the economic effects of globalization on a local fish market in Katima Mulilo, Namibia along the Zambezi River and near the border with Zambia. Using market data from January 2008 to December 2016, we test two hypotheses. First, we test if the local market is integrated with global markets. Second, we test whether local prices are increasing and associated with positive terms of trade. Using time series methods and hedonic models, results show that the Katima market is linked to the world market, and local fish traders receive higher prices over time as predicted by an increasingly globalized seafood trade.