DFYWA Fishmeal and dried fish in Andhra Pradesh report

Status

DRAFT

Metadata

abstract

The District Fishermen Youth Welfare Association (DFYWA) is a community-based non-governmental organisation working with the small-scale fishers and fishworkers of northern Andhra Pradesh since 1992, implementing activities focused on developing sustainable fisheries-based livelihoods for men and women. This working paper is the first in the proposed series, focusing upon the fisherwomen involved in dried fish trade covering the four northern coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. The working paper also takes a sideways glance at the potential impacts of the industrial fishmeal production on the small-scale processed fish production in the target communities. It is the intention of DFYWA to treat the working paper as a live document, to allow updating it at regular intervals, add more quantitative data as it is collected, and also use this as a baseline to understand and interpret future development directions in the subsector, both from within the communities and outside of them. The study, based mostly on primary data collection, is undertaken by several members and staff of DFYWA.

series

DFM Reports

title

Living on the Edge: Perspectives of the small-scale women fish processors of northern coastal Andhra Pradesh, India

short title

Living on the Edge

date

April 2021

author

Arjilli Dasu, Surada Rajarao, Karri Pandayya, Busara Thavudu, Garikina Ratna, Chodipili Satyanand, and Barre Lakshmi Narasimha Raju

address

District Fishermen Youth Welfare Association

14-8-27/1A Bhanojithota, B C Road Gajuwaka Visakhapatnam-530026 Andhra Pradesh INDIA Phone No +91 891 2701228

acknowledgements

This work draws on research supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Workflow

• 2021-04-22: Draft received from Dasu
• 2021-07-16: Reviewer comments from Derek to Dasu. See "appraisal". "I think there’s real potential for an academic publication from the report. I realize this may not be your priority, but I would be happy to discuss options for helping you to transform it into an academic article if you were interested. Ratana is also putting together an e-book on outputs from the scoping phase of the project for a public audience, and we’d love to include a short piece from DFYWA in that. The volume will be free and written in accessible language, with lots of illustrations, so should be a good way to get our preliminary findings out." DFM-DFYWA_RPT_Living-on-the-edge_DRAFT-01_comments-DJ.docx
• 2021-08-25: Revised draft received from Dasu. DFM-DFYWA_RPT_Living-on-the-edge_2021-08-25.docx . "I am attaching the final report as prepared by Mr Venkatesh with this mail. You may please get the DFM and SSHRC logos added on the cover as you suggested and upload it on the DFM website. Please send the link once it has been published digitally so we can start sharing it to other interested parties."

Appraisal by Derek Johnson

The most striking features of the report for me are the following:

1. the depiction of the unbelievable effort that women dried fish vendors make to undertake their professions
2. the careful and nuanced argument that you make about the sunset nature of women’s involvement in dried fish. For AP at least, it seems likely that substantial women organized petty dried fish trading will largely disappear as this current generation of women traders ages out. This doesn’t mean that dried fish production will disappear as it will continue to have a functional place for excess catches and for trawler by-catch, but it’s unclear whether there will continue to be the local women’s trading networks for dried fish in 20 or 30 years. I was struck by the observation that young women continue to go into fish trading, but they only take up fresh fish trading, not dried fish.
3. the very low margins of return for fish meal, which goes against the narrative of fish meal production displacing dried fish production for direct human consumption. The arguments you make on this point about fish meal supply coming from organizational failures in fish supply chains were very thought provoking.