Global literature review - Ecology

Although the literature on fisheries ecology is considerable, very few studies have directly addressed the place of dried and fermented fish within ecosystems and the environment. Within this limited area, four main themes can be identified.

First, dried and fermented fish production can be understood as part of cultural adaptive strategies in response to specific environments. For example, Kenneth Ruddle describes the complementary development of fermented fish and rice in South-East Asia as a feature of highly seasonal floodplain river environments, suited to alternating production of fish and rice [1]. Similarly, Vietnamese fermentation practices reflect a combination of distinct ecological features and biological rhythms, making use of small fish that can be fermented uniformly, that are of low economic value (and thus protected from competing uses), and that can be harvested safely in bulk as they feed on plankton blooms created by monsoon upwellings [2].

Second, dried and fermented fish production occurs within human-ecological interactions that are implicated in environmental change. For instance, changing stocking rates due to overfishing in Lake Albert, Uganda has led to practices of on-boat sun-drying, which allows fishers to maximize production by keeping their boats on the water for weeks at a time [3]. From a global perspective, transnational trade in dried seafood has had an impact on marine resources, raising global governance concerns [4].

Third, it is possible to contrast the environmental impacts of different processing methods. Thus research on Peruvian anchovy value chains indicates that cured fish involves substantially higher energy costs and processing losses than fresh or frozen fish, even when taking into account the energy costs of refrigerated transportation and storage [5].

Fourth, dried and fermented fish production can be interpreted, from a political ecology perspective, as embedded within socio-economic relations involving unequal power over fisheries resources and labourers [6]. Declining resources may result in competition among fishers, but can also generate new political alliances between traders, fishers, and other actors [7].