Determination of fish consumption habits of consumers: Case study of Mary city, Turkmenistan

Please cite this paper as follows: Aydın, A., Bashimov, G. (2020). Determination of fish consumption habits of consumers: Case study of Mary city, Turkmenistan. Marine Science and Technology Bulletin, 9(2): 118-124.


Introduction
With the increase of the world's population, urbanization and the rise of social welfare, the demand for animal products is increasing day by day with the increase of the phenomenon of healthy and balanced nutrition. The researches emphasize that at least 40-50% of the daily protein requirement should be in addition to natural stocks (Dogan, 2002). Fish in particular is an indispensable food item in terms of human nutrition and accordingly human health (Ikenweiwe et al., 2011). Fish meat consists mainly of protein, fat and water. However, fish meat contains a significant amount of vitamins, iron and essential amino acids (Gogus and Kolsarici, 1992;Wang et al., 2009;Adeli et al., 2010). Fish oil (omega-3) consumed in high amounts was found to reduce the risk of developing many chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease (Trondsen et al., 2004).
Fish constitutes a major source of animal protein in many nations. Global fish consumption is 20.3 kg per capita and it is about 3.3 kg per capita in Turkmenistan (FAO, 2018). It is show that Turkmen people are consumed fishes in low levels. According to FAO (2018) annual fish production is about 15 thousand tons in Turkmenistan. Fish and seafood products contribute to food security at a limited level. Seafood products play an important role exclusively in the diet of the people living in the coastal area.
The aim of this study is to obtain data on the behavior and fish consumption habits of consumers in Mary city center, one of the important cities of Turkmenistan. Therefore, it is aimed to reveal the taste, preference and thoughts of consumers that are effective in their properties and consumption. Thus, this research is intended to contribute to a different approach by setting an example for future fish consumption research.

Materials and Methods
Primary and secondary data sources were used in the preparation of this research. The primary data source of the research is horizontal cross-sectional data obtained via survey from families residing in the urban area of Mary city. The survey form used in the study was developed in accordance with the purpose of the research by using studies that had previously been done for similar purposes. In this study conducted in 2019, a survey of 20 questions was applied to consumers. In the scope of the survey, it was aimed to determine the educational status of the consumers, their monthly income, their yearly fish consumption, the types of fish they consume and love the most, the characteristics they pay attention to when buying fish, and their thoughts on the way they consume and cook fish. In this study, the research, articles, papers, reports prepared before, as well as the statistical data published by the relevant institutions were utilized.

Sampling methods
Sufficient sample size to represent the population in the study was determined by using "unclustered probability sampling method" (Collins, 1986). n = t 2 × [1 + (0.02)(b − 1)] × (p × q)/e 2 (1) Where; n: Sample size, t: T table value corresponding to 95% significance level, b: Sampling stage (taken as 1 since the method is singlestage), p: Occurrence probability of the relevant case within the main mass taken as 50%, q: Non-occurrence probability of the relevant case (1-p), e: Accepted margin of error (The margin of error was taken as 6% in this study).
In the equation, when B=1 is taken, the equality is transformed into the following form: n = t 2 × (p × q)/e 2 (2) According to this formula, the sample size is calculated as follows: n = 1.96 2 × (0.50 × 0.50) / 0.06 2 n = 267 The data was transferred to the computer using SPSS and Microsoft Excel package programs, and descriptive statistical analyses (frequency, mean and percentage) were performed on the findings. The likert type scale was used to evaluate the factors that consumers care about in buying and consuming fish, as well as their level of knowledge about fish. In the study, expressions on the attitude scale were evaluated on a five point scale (Bilgin, 1995).

Socio-demographic characteristics of consumers
It is important to know the socio-demographic characteristics of fish consumers in order to investigate the consumption levels and habits of fish consumers. Table 1 includes some socio-demographic characteristics of fish consumers. Accordingly, 59.55% of consumers are women and 40.45% are men. The result also shows that majority (91.39%) of consumers were married while 8.61% were single. Of the surveyed consumers, 14.98% are in the 18-30 age range, 35.96% are in the 31-40 age range, 40.82% are in the 41-50 age range, and 8.24% are 51 years of age or older. When the number of individuals in the family is examined, 23.22% are 1-3 people, 56.55% are 4-6 people, and 20.23% are 7 or more.
When looking at the educational status of the interviewed consumers, 53.18% of them graduated from high school, 33.71% from vocational high school and 13.11% from university. While looking at the distribution of consumers by occupations, 28.84% are public servants, 20.23% are artisans/merchants, 18.35% are workers, 13.11% are retired, 10.86% are housewives, 5.62% are farmers and 2.99% are from other occupational groups. The monthly income of the surveyed consumers ranges from $140 to $750. 37.07% of consumers have monthly income of less than $200, 43.45% have between $201-500, and 19.48% have $501 and above.

Consumers' fish consumption status and habits
Information on the fish consumption characteristics of the interviewed consumers is given in Table 2. When the frequency of fish consumption is examined, 33.33% of consumers consume fish once a month, 31.84% several times a year, 21.72% every fifteen days, 8.61% once a week and 4.50% 2-3 times a week. The average yearly fish consumption of the surveyed consumers is 3.28 kg per capita. This value in the world is about 20.3 kg/year and it is about 3.3 kg/year in Turkmenistan (FAO, 2018). The amount of fish consumption was the same the country average. Yearly per capita fish consumption was calculated 12.2 kg/year in the study conducted by Karakaya and Kirici (2016) in Bingöl, Turkey, in the study conducted in India by Bhuyan et al. (2017) was 14.27 kg/year, and in another study conducted in Australia by Farmery et al. (2018) was 9.6 kg/year. Compared to these consumption figures, it can be said that the yearly fish consumption per capita in the research area is quite low. When the way consumers consume fish is examined, 97.00% of consumers consume fish as fresh and 3% as processed. In various studies on the subject, the rate of fresh consumption of fish by consumers is 85.12% in Mexico (Pérez-Ramírez et al., 2015), 97% in Erzurum and Van cities, Turkey (Gungor and Ceyhun, 2017), and 76% in Indonesia (Firmansyah et al., 2019).
When the preferred fish cooking methods are sorted from top to bottom, the preferred method is frying with 64.79%, followed by baking with 23.97%, steaming with 9.74% and other cooking methods with 1.50%.
In terms of healthy eating, fish should be consumed in every season. It is seen that the majority of consumers consume fish in winter season (58.43%). However, 18.73% of the surveyed consumers stated that they consumed fish only in summer season, while 22.84% stated that they consumed fish both in summer and in winter season. In previous studies reported that consumers consume fish meat maximum in winter seasons (Erdal and Esengun, 2008;Terin et al., 2016;Kizilaslan, 2019;Saka and Bulut, 2020).
Of the individuals surveyed, 44.57% prefer fish for being delicious, 34.83% for health, and 12.73% for cheap and 7.87% for habit.
Consumers stated that the freshness of the fish is very effective when buying fish with an average score of 4.87. The taste of the fish (4.41 points), price (3.90 points) and the fishbone condition (3.46 points) were mentioned by consumers as effective factors in their preference for fish (Table 3).  Figure 1 provides information about consumers' preferred fish markets. According to the survey results, 89.88% of consumers buy fish from the bazaar, 7.5% from the market and 2.62% from peddlers. 56.5% of participants find the variety of fish in the market adequate, while 43.5% do not find the variety adequate.
Consumers' confidence levels in the places where they buy fish were also examined. Accordingly, 63.67% of consumers generally expressed confidence in bazaars, 43.06% in markets and 40.82% in peddlers (Table 4). 56.55% of the surveyed consumers found that fish prices were generally expensive, while 34.46% stated that they were normal and 8.99% were cheap ( Table 5). 81% of consumers in the study conducted in Kenya by Esilaba et al. (2017), 73% of consumers in the study conducted in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey by Ercan and Sahin (2016), stated that fish prices were expensive. It can be said that the result obtained from the research is similar to other study results. The status of consumers' participation in certain statements regarding fish consumption was given in Table 6. Consumers were asked to respond to the judgments on fish consumption in Table 6 as "strongly disagree" "disagree" "undecided" "agree" and "strongly agree". When consumers ' responses to these judgments were examined, it was determined that 71% of Bazaar 89.88% Peddler 7.5% Market 2.62% consumers participated in the statement that fish is an important food item in human nutrition. It was found that 94% of consumers participated in the statement that fish is healthy. 56% of consumers participated in the statement that I find fish prices high. Approximately 20% of participants that thought they have consumed enough fish, while 54% stated that they have not consumed enough fish. It was determined that 32.96% of consumers strongly disagreed and 34.08% disagreed with the statement that ads affect my fish consumption.

Conclusion
Fish is one of the oldest food sources of humans. Fish with a high nutritional value in terms of our health are consumed today by being loved and the demand is increasing every day. The increase in fish demand is directly related to the knowledge of consumer characteristics and preferences. Therefore, studies in this area are becoming increasingly important.
In this study, fish consumption status of consumers in Mary city of Turkmenistan was examined. According to the findings, the average amount of yearly fish consumption of the individuals surveyed was found to be 3.28 kg per person. The average fish consumption is about 3.3 kg per capita in Turkmenistan. Previous studies demonstrate that fish consumption is influenced by many factors such as sociodemographic background, personal health status, society, household income and education level (Trondsen et al., 2004;Olsen et al., 2007). High fish prices and weak seafood consumption culture are important factors affecting fish consumption in research area. However, the important reason for the low consumption of fish is that the research area is far from the sea. This also reduces the variety of seafood's in the market.
As a result of the research the consumption rate of fresh fish was determined as 97%. This trend is similar with other studies on consumption of seafood. A significant number of consumers stated that they prefer fish because it is healthy and delicious. Fish consumption is known to have a positive effect on certain diseases. The health researches revealed that consumption of fish oil (omega-3) reduced the risk of many diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases (Trondsen et al., 2004). The most preferred fish consumed in research area is catfish because it is cheap, nutritious and has taste well.
The purchasing of fish is influenced by many factors such as freshness, taste, smell, price, health, nutrition and quality. A research conducted in France has shown that quality and freshness are the most important factors in the sale of fish (Botrel, 2007). Results show that the most important criteria influencing fish choice by consumers as taste, nutritious and price.
The level of education is an important element in consumers' choice of fish. Also, the socioeconomic situation, differences in the household income and their occupations can cause differences in consumption areas (Salehi, 2006). According to the findings 46.82% of consumers are graduates from higher education. 33.33% of consumers stated that they consumed fish once a month, 31.84% several times a year, 21.72% every fifteen days, 8.61% once a week, and 4.50% 2-3 times a week.
When the research results are evaluated in general, the majority of consumers think that the fish is nutritious and healthy. However, a significant number of respondents surveyed stated that fish prices were high. In order to increase the consumption of fish, it is important to have different varieties regularly at fish outlets and to offer them to consumers at reasonable prices. Fish have many benefits in terms of human health. Therefore, the importance of fish consumption in terms of human health should be emphasized. For this reason, with effective training and extension services, consumers should be directed to healthy nutrition. In addition, more extensive surveys into consumer tendency to fisheries will be important sources of initiatives to increase consumption.