DFM Gujarat

Location of Gujarat in India (Wikimedia Commons)

Gujarat is a state on the western coast of India with a coastline of 1,600 km (990 mi) which accounts for 19.70 percent of the total coastline of the country and about 46 percent of the western coastline of India. It is the sixth largest Indian state by area and the ninth largest state by population. Gujarat is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Daman and Diu to the south, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Fisheries play a significant role in the income, employment, livelihoods, and food security of the people of Gujarat. According to the Government records and statistics, a large proportion of fishers are directly dependent on the marine fishery sector for livelihoods, while many of them are engaged in small-scale fisheries using both traditional and motorized fishing crafts [1].

Dried Fish in Gujarat

Dried fish processing is a common practice of Gujarat coastal region. About 20 percent of the fish harvest is being processed regularly for domestic and overseas consumption. Totally, 11 export units and 350 domestic dried fish units are involved in dried fish processing in Gujarat state. The state accounts for about 80 percent of total dried fish exports from India per season [3]. Bombay duck (Harpodon nehereus), ribbon fish (Lepturacanthus savala), shrimp (Parapenaeus stylifera), cat fish (Arius maculatus), leather jacket (Aluterus monoceros), silver bellies (Gerres subfasciatus), anchovies (Stolephorus indicuse), soles (Cynogolssus macrolepidotus, Paraplagusia bilineata) and horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) are some of the common species processed in Gujarat coastal region for dry fish production.

The DFM Gujarat Team

Dr.Tara Nair: Dr. Nair from Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR) will lead the DFM Gujarat research team for both scoping and the Stacked Value Chain (SVC) survey.

Dr. Rudra Narayan Mishra: Dr. Mishra is from GIDR and is closely involved with both field research and analysis.

Ms. Arti Oza: Ms. Oza is from GIDR and is in charge of documentation.

Dr. Bhavik Panchasara: Dr. Panchasara is an ICSSR post-doctoral fellow. He would contribute in scoping and SVC research, and undertake a focused study on financing of dried fish value chain.

Dr. Himani Baxi: Dr. Baxi from Ahmedabad University will work closely with DFM GIDR team in all the research components.

Dr. Jyothis Satyapalan

Dr. Kirit Patel: Dr. Patel from University of Winnipeg, Canada will provide overall guidance to the project. He will also co-guide Master’s and Doctoral/Post Doctoral scholars as and when they join the team.

Prof. Derek Johnson: Professor Johnson from University of Manitoba, Canada will provide overall guidance to the project. He is supervising masters, doctoral, and post doctoral scholars who are working in the project.

Dr. Sara Ahmed: Dr. Ahmed from University of Ahmedabad, will provide overall guidance to the project. She will also co-guide doctoral/post doctoral scholars when they join the team.

Partner Organizations

Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR)

Established in 1970, GIDR is a premier social science research institute in India supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi and the Government of Gujarat. The institute’s current research priorities include issues such as agrarian transformation, sustainable livelihoods, climate risks and local adaptation strategies, innovation and informal production, local-global integration and role of standards, and provisioning and access to basic infrastructure. Much of the research at GIDR is based on careful empirical research at the micro level, while a good part directly informs national and regional policies. GIDR will play the lead role in carrying out the proposed DFM research in Gujarat, leveraging its critical strengths in organizing and executing large-scale primary research, including a team of well-trained and committed research associates.

Significant Publications on Dried fish-Gujarat

Johnson, D. S., Biswal, R., & Sathyapalan, J. (2018). History and Social Difference in Arguments for the Societal Values of Small-Scale Fisheries in Gujarat, India. In Social Wellbeing and the Values of Small-Scale Fisheries (pp. 267-291). Springer, Cham.

Sivaraman, G. K., Visnuvinayagam, S., Jha, A. K., Remya, S., Renuka, V., Ajeesh, K., & Vanik, D. (2018). Molecular divergence and identification of Aspergillus species in dry fishes of Gujarat, India. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences, 88(2), 505-515.

Sharma, H., Swain, M., & Kalamkar, S. S. (2017). Assessment of economic losses due to inadequate post-harvest infrastructure facilities for marine fisheries in Gujarat. Economic Affairs, 62(1), 1.