4WSFC planning

This is a planning page for the 4th World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress (4WSFC).

Roundtables

The roundtable session reports on progress towards understanding the social economy of dried fish in South and Southeast Asia under the umbrella of the Dried Fish Matters project. Rather than a traditional paper presentation format, the session is organized around a series of thematic mini-workshops on themes of transdisciplinary collaboration, social economy, nutrition, and ‘improvement’. The first theme, collaboration, is embedded in the very design of the panel itself.  The three other themes are the focus of each mini-workshop. These begin with short presentations of key observations and emerging questions, articulated in relation to visual material, that open up into a plenary brainstorming session on each theme.

The 120-minute panel is designed to reflect the work-in-progress stage of the DFM project. It takes inspiration from the idea that out of uncertainty and contingency, valuable new insights and suggestions for new directions may emerge.

Each “mini-workshop” session will include 4-5 representative presentations from DFM research (5 minutes each), followed by panel discussion including comments and contributions from the broader group of participants. Groups from each workshop will meet in advance to coordinate the presentations and create a synthesis

Mapping dried fish social economies

Guiding question: what are DFM’s key comparative findings about dried fish social economies in Asia and about the mapping of ‘knowledge’ as an emergent practice? (Prompt for presenters: What are the top 3 surprising findings about value chains in your area?)

• Sri Lanka: Maldive fish processing (Dilanthi, Nireka, Shalika)
• Bangladesh: Recent fieldwork (Mahfuz)
• Thailand: Shopping online and in person (Nova and the DFM Thailand team)
• Andhra Pradesh: Study of secondary data published by Marine Products Export Development Authority / MPEDA (Jeena)
• Synthesis report from IMBeR (Nikita et al. / Kyoko and Ben / Madu)

Dried fish as food

• Reflections on the design and findings of the Myanmar dried fish consumption survey (Ben/Si Thu/Wae Win, Jeena, Amal, Jenia/Amrita/Raktima)
• Nutritional analysis of dried fish samples (Rotimi and Huan)
• Sri Lanka nutrition study (Yasodha Hirimuthugoda and Maduka Subodini)
• Microplastics and other food safety issues in Bangladesh (Mostafa and colleagues)
• Summary of food science findings from the global literature review (Derek, Ben, Eric)

Examining “improvement” in dried fish social economies

• Dried fish policy, governance, and development survey findings (Emdad and Mahed)
• West Bengal: Political ecology and dried fish (Jenia, Amrita, Raktima)
• Karnataka: Governance of dried fish value chains (Amal)
• Gujarat: Policy and governance issues (Tara)
• Global literature review findings (Derek, Ben, Eric)

Cross-cutting discussion and conclusion

• Co-learning in the project (Alexia and Fabiana)
• Discussion of lessons learned from deliberate collaboration of PG program

E-book

This session will be a pre-launch event for the Dried Fish Matters e-book, which introduces and comments on our process of co-learning about dried fish.

The e-book will be launched formally on June 18, to coincide with Sustainable Gastronomy Day. Our e-book celebrates the cultural value of dried fish as food, while observing that dried fish can contribute to sustainable development according to its economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The e-book contains over 30 chapters written by researchers from across the DFM project alongside their collaborators. A selection of these chapters will be made available for early download to coincide with the pre-launch event.

This session will include three presentations, reflecting the thematic sections of the e-book:

1. Dried fish in culture and gastronomy -- Stories and recipes (Raktima, Mahfuz, Ratana)
2. Dried fish in sustainable development -- Social and Economic dimensions of dried fish value chains (Derek and Wae Win)
3. Co-learning about dried fish -- Social learning and passion for food (Eric and Aklima)

Each presentation will draw on visual evidence and vignettes from the chapters contained within the section to advance an argument about why and how dried fish matters.

The formal presentations will be followed by a virtual reception. Due to ongoing COVID restrictions, guests are invited to supply their own dried fish and drinks.