Navigating Weights and Measurement in the dried fish value chain

Title	Navigating Weights and Measurement in the dried fish value chain
Author(s)	Amalendu Jyotishi, Prashanth R, Nikita Gopal, Ramachandra Bhatta, Priya Gupta, Holly M. Hapke, Prasanna S
Format	Analytical narrative
Anticipated length	3000 words plus photographs and figures
Synopsis	The Karnataka and Kerala team while mapping the dried fish markets came across species sold using different weights and measurements. Through further observations we found there are species sold in numbers as a unit, others in kilogram, some as heaps, and yet others in seru a container of local measurement. We probed dried fish value chains further to understand what measurements are followed in the procurement process of these species. This led us to multiple and varied measurements used at different points along the value chain for different species. To add to the complexities, the weight of the fish (in terms of mass and volume) goes through a change as the wet fish loses weight in the drying process and the level of moisture content decreases. The amount of salting would also change the weights.  This led to the question, how do the women-small-scale dried fish processors and traders navigate varied weights and measurements in their procurement of supply, processing, and sale of products to consumers? How does experience and the intuitive cognitive logic work for these women who are barely literate, to navigate the process? Is there a trade secret from which they tend to gain, or they lose out or discount their own (non-market and mostly labor) contribution in the process? Why isn’t a uniform method of measurement followed across species of fish and in dried fish value chains? In this short narrative, we attempt to explain the process of measurement in different nodes of the dried fish value chain. While we group some species across different types of measurement in the value chain, we also follow a few species, in an attempt to unearth the reasons behind following such varied measurement practices. To address a larger question, standardization of measurement is one of the prime attributes of capitalist economy and its expansion. In that context, we can raise questions about how multiple systems of transactions co-exist and how does these inform the economic system overall, which is deeply embedded in social, cultural, and path-dependent practices.