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

July 2021

author

Venkatesh Salagrama & Arjilli Dasu

contributor

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

technical editor

Steven Smeltz

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.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2

MAP OF ANDHRA PRADESH (STUDY AREAS HIGHLIGHTED IN BOX) 6

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 7

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 10

3. METHODOLOGY 10

4. GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE & TIMEFRAMES 12

5. CONSTRAINTS/GAPS 13

6. DRIED FISH PRODUCTION AND TRADE: AN OVERVIEW 15

6.1. SETTING THE SCENE: DRIED FISH TRADE IN ANDHRA PRADESH 15

6.2. CATEGORIES OF DRIED FISH PRODUCERS AND TRADERS IN COASTAL ANDHRA PRADESH 20

6.3. CATEGORISATION OF DRIED FISH PRODUCERS BASED ON SCALE OF OPERATIONS 22

6.4. IMPORTANT SPECIES OF FISH USED IN DRIED FISH PRODUCTION AND TRADE 23

6.5. SOME SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIED FISH PRODUCERS 24

7. AN ASSESSMENT OF THE LIVELIHOOD CONTEXT OF THE SMALL-SCALE FISH PROCESSORS IN ANDHRA PRADESH 27

7.1. CHANGING AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS TO FISH 27

7.2. DEPENDENCE ON MULTIPLE SOURCES OF SUPPLY AND MARKETS 29

7.3. CONTESTED ACCESS AND USE RIGHTS TO PROCESSING AREAS 32

7.4. STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE LANDING SITES, PROCESSING AREAS AND MARKETS 35

7.5. ISSUES RELATED TO FISH PROCESSING 36

7.6. CREDIT AND DRIED FISH PROCESSORS 39

7.7. MARKETING SYSTEMS IN DRIED FISH TRADE 42

7.8. ORGANISATION OF DRIED FISH BUSINESS 45

7.9. WORKING CONDITIONS IN DRIED FISH PROCESSING AND TRADE 46

7.10. GENDER AND DRIED FISH TRADE 48

7.11. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES OF RELEVANCE TO DRIED FISH TRADE 49

7.12. YOUTH AND DRIED FISH 50

8. FISHMEAL AND DRIED FISH 52

8.1. THE PROBLEM OF UNDER-UTILISED CATCHES IN FISHERIES 52

8.2. DEMAND FOR THE ‘TRASH’ AND BYCATCH: AN HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY 53

8.3. SOURCES OF SUPPLY TO FISHMEAL FROM ANDHRA PRADESH 55

8.4. WOMEN IN FISHMEAL PRODUCTION 57

8.5. PROPORTION OF FISHMEAL IN THE OVERALL LANDINGS 58

8.6. INDUSTRIAL FISHMEAL SUPPLIES FROM NORTHERN ANDHRA PRADESH 58

8.7. IMPACT OF FISHMEAL ON HUMAN FOOD SECURITY AND DRIED FISH TRADE 62

9. STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY PROCESSORS TO COPE WITH CHANGING CONDITIONS IN DRIED FISH PRODUCTION AND TRADE 67

10. DISCUSSION: IS DRIED FISH STILL RELEVANT? 68

11. SOME IMMEDIATE ACTIONS SUGGESTED BY THE FISH PROCESSORS TO HELP IMPROVE THEIR CONDITIONS 72

APPENDIX 1: LIST OF PROCESSORS INTERVIEWED FOR THE STUDY 74

APPENDIX 2: WORK ROUTINES OF SELECTED FISH TRADERS AND PROCESSORS TO INDICATE TIME INVESTMENTS IN FISH DRYING 78

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.