How Chinese demand for fish maw (swim bladder) fuels a $52 million industry in Uganda
Fish maw — the swim bladder of a fish — is one of the most expensive dried-seafood products in the world. A Chinese delicacy, it can fetch $450 to $1,000 per kilogram. It’s often viewed as a symbol of wealth and prosperity, and it's given out as gifts at important events and stockpiled as a speculative investment. It’s one of the “four treasures” of Cantonese cuisine, along with abalone, sea cucumber, and shark fin. But the main reason fish maw is so desired is its supposed medical value. Because of its high levels of collagen and fiber, it's believed to promote healthy skin, boost the immune system, and aid digestion. Fish maw is also often recommended in China for postpartum recovery and to reduce post-surgery pain. But because of overfishing in East Asia, China now imports the majority of its bladders from other countries, like Uganda. In Uganda, fishers compete for Nile perch in Lake Victoria and ship them to China for extremely high prices.
Transcript
00:00 This massive 50 kilogram nile perch is a rare catch for these Ugandan fishers.
00:07 But it's not the fish meat that will make them the most money.
00:12 It's this balloon-like internal organ known as a fish maw or a swim bladder.
00:19 Dried fish maws can sell for up to $800 a pound.
00:24 But older maws like this one from a large slate cod croaker are valued as high as $4,000 for a single piece.
00:33 Fishers sell it to Chinese markets around the world where people eat it for its health benefits and supposed anti-ageing properties.
00:49 But the supply chain in China is facing a big problem.
00:53 Due to overfishing in Chinese waters, connoisseurs are now looking abroad to places like Uganda for fish maw.
01:01 The organ is so prized that smuggling and theft are rampant in the industry.
01:07 So why is fishing for maw worth the risk? And why is it so expensive?
01:13 Po Weng Hong Food Market in New York City's Chinatown has been selling fish maw ever since it first opened in 1980.
01:21 Today it specialises in rare dried seafood delicacies.
01:26 Sophia Sau runs this shop with her parents.
01:30 She says that these days fish maw is so rare that they have to buy it in bulk as soon as it becomes available.
01:37 Usually we request a certain size and certain type of fish maw because we know what sells the best.
01:43 And we usually maybe get 50% of what we request because the demand is so high.
01:49 Fish maw, or swim bladder, is an organ that enables fish to control their buoyancy.
01:55 Fish maw is traditionally considered one of the four treasures of Cantonese cuisine, along with shark fin, abalone and sea cucumber.
02:04 Zhao Xiong, who has worked for Po Weng Hong for 10 years, supervises the dried seafood department.
02:11 He's an expert on the four treasures.
02:14 The dried seafood is a type of fish maw.
02:17 The fish maw is usually yellowish in colour and translucent.
02:26 The longer it's aged, the thicker the fish maw becomes.
02:31 The fish maw contains a lot of protein and fiber.
02:35 It also contains a lot of microorganisms such as fungi and fungi.
02:42 The store orders all of its fish maw from a USDA-certified broker,
02:46 who works directly with traders and fishers in Southeast Asia, South America and Africa.
02:53 Usually when we order fish maw, it's about 30 to 50 pounds per case.
02:58 And general prices are between 4,000 to 8,000 depending on the quality of the fish maw.
03:04 They resell it for anywhere from 200 to 800 dollars per pound, depending on the type and quality.
03:11 The Chinese bahaba, or large yellow croaker, was a main source of fish maw for decades.
03:17 But in 1989, the Chinese government designated it a Grade II state-protected species.
03:23 And in 2006, the International Union for Conservation of Nature also assessed the fish as critically endangered.
03:32 Today, the majority of fish maw is imported from other countries, including Uganda,
03:37 where fishing for an invasive species called Nile perch on Lake Victoria
03:41 has become a lucrative business for locals like Amber Francis.
03:46 It's early morning on Kisimawan Island in Jinja.
03:51 Amber is packing up his bait and hooks and preparing his boat to set out on Lake Victoria.
03:57 He's worked as a fisher here for the past 10 years.
04:06 He says Nile perch sold for much cheaper when he first started, before there was demand for the bladders.
04:13 The islands in the area around Jinja, like Kisimawan, are used as a base for the estimated 2,000 or so fishers in the area.
04:21 While Ugandans don't typically eat fish maw themselves, Amber has tried it and loves it.
04:28 Yeah, we used to eat it and we enjoyed it a lot.
04:32 Other people, sometimes back there, used to throw them away.
04:36 Not until they came to realise that it's tasty, it's good, that's when they started to consume it.
04:43 Amber says he can make around $4,000 a month selling fish maw to traders, depending on the size of his catch.
04:56 Each kilo, they can buy it at 25,000, only a kilo.
05:01 When I get that one which weighs like 10 kilograms, that's 250, which is a lot of money in Uganda.
05:09 But finding the biggest fish requires some special tricks and knowing where to look.
05:15 The weather right now is good for fishing, but in two to three hours, actually, the water will be rough.
05:21 He focuses on the deep water and he baits his hooks with a live young catfish, known locally as ensuma.
05:29 If the water is too cold, the ensuma can die instantly and Nile perch won't go after dead fish.
05:40 Each hook is demarcated with a bottle so he knows which lines belong to him.
05:45 Because these fish are so valuable, theft is also an issue on the lake.
05:50 Unfortunately, you go there, you find nothing, when everything was taken by those thieves.
05:56 Once he's baited his lines, he leaves them in the water and returns to the island to rest until evening.
06:02 Now we are going to rest for some time, like three to four hours,
06:08 after we come back and check our hooks, what we have put there, to see whether there's Nile perch on it.
06:16 Amber says he typically catches six or seven fish per day, usually all weighing under 20 kilograms.
06:24 The biggest one he has ever caught was a massive 98 kilograms.
06:29 I feel good when it pulls me. Yeah, that's what I enjoy, it's like a game to me.
06:35 Today he caught only six fish, but the biggest one was about 30 kilograms.
06:44 I expected to get more than this. Yeah, actually it's a bad day to me.
06:52 The fishers don't remove the bladders themselves.
06:57 Tomorrow, Amber will sell his fish directly to the trader, who hired him at the local market in Masese.
07:11 Amber's boss is Hakim Magumba, who has been working in the fishing industry for about 23 years.
07:18 He previously traded tilapia to buyers in Kenya, but he now works with Nile perch because it's much more profitable.
07:25 I fish because I need fish more. Because fish more is like gold for my side, you understand.
07:33 We used to throw it back, we used to throw the bladder, because it was no sense.
07:39 We wanted that meat, but nowadays, money.
07:45 Hakim says he has 22 boats and 30 fishers like Amber working for him.
07:51 Once they deliver the fish to him, they are weighed, sorted and priced based on their size.
07:58 This fish weighs 12 kilos. After weighing, we are going to cut it and see the bladder which is in it.
08:09 The bladders must be removed and cleaned by hand.
08:12 We sell it at the 500,000 Ugandan shillings.
08:17 The rest of the fish doesn't go to waste.
08:21 Hakim sells it to the locals in Uganda, where it's a popular delicacy.
08:26 The moor will eventually make its way to Chinese exporters who dry it and ship it to Hong Kong and other locations worldwide.
08:35 Hakim is just one of many traders in the area trying to make a living in fish moor with competitors all around him.
08:41 We have people from Kenya, people from TZ, their own competitors. Very many.
08:52 Aside from the competition, Hakim says one of the biggest challenges the fishers in Uganda face is run-ins with local authorities.
09:01 The guys who are in business of fish moor, they don't have the licence.
09:06 So when you don't have licence, you are caught with the soldiers.
09:10 Crime is also an issue on land, according to Hakim.
09:15 He says some of his colleagues have been robbed while transporting their goods to Chinese buyers.
09:21 Safety is too much. Too much. Mostly on the loads when you're taking it to the Chinese.
09:29 And getting into the industry is costly.
09:31 Not everyone can afford the initial investment of equipment, which includes a government-licensed boat, an engine, plus regulation hooks and bait.
09:41 Yeah, actually it requires a lot of capital to deal in fishing in Alpach.
09:50 Like me as a fisherman, just one boat I require like 15 million shillings.
09:56 And fishing has already been detrimental to many fish species around the world.
10:00 A large croaker in Mexico's Gulf of California called the totoaba is now in danger of extinction due to the fish moor trade.
10:08 But this fish, often dubbed the cocaine of the sea, is still illegally trafficked into China.
10:15 In April 2023, US Customs seized $2.7 million worth of totoaba fish moor hidden in a shipment of frozen fish fillets in Arizona.
10:26 Even so, demand for fish moor is not slowing down.
10:31 On a weekday morning at Po Wing Hong, the aisles are as busy as ever, with customers scouring the shelves for dried seafood products as soon as they open.
10:42 While fish moor is more popular among the older generations, Sophia says younger people have started incorporating it into their diets as well.
10:50 I feel that nowadays a lot of younger people are eating fish moor because it reminds them of dishes that they had in the past and it's a little bit of nostalgia.
10:59 Also they want to embrace their culture and relearn the dishes that are really traditional.
11:07 With that rare $4,000 fish moor they have on hand, it's so special to Po Wing Hong that it's not even for sale.
11:13 We keep it just as a keepsake. We just have it as part of our collection.
11:18 [Music]