Production and marketing of dry fish through the traditional practices in West Bengal coast: Problems and prospect

Abstract

The present study deals with the production and marketing of different dry fishes and their prospects and constraints in the coastal areas of South West Bengal. This study was carried out from June, 2014 to March, 2015. Various categories of fishes were caught through different gears operated in the inshore, offshore and demersal fishing areas (up to 40 fathoms depth) of the Bay of Bengal. The dominated fish species includes Lepturacanthus savala (Cuvier, 1829), Liza persia (Hamilton, 1822), Opisthopterus tardoore (Cuvier, 1829), Coilia dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1848), Panna microdon (Bleeker, 1849), Harpadon nehereus (Hamilton, 1822), Sillago sihama (Forsskal, 1775), Corica soborna (Hamilton, 1822), Satipinna phasa (Hamilton, 1822), Arius sp (Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1840), Upeneus sulphureus (Cuvier, 1829), Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch, 1791), Chirocentrus dorab (Forsskal, 1775), Scomberomorus guttatus (Bloch and Schneider, 1801), Drepane punctate (Linnaeus, 1758), Cynoglossus sp (Hamilton, 1822), Metapenaeus toluensis (De Haan, 1884), Penaeus semisulcatus (De Haan, 1884), Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798) etc. Amongst them few species are highly demandable and were transported to the local market for domestic consumption and less acceptable species have been vending in different Khaties where they have procured for the drying. The major Khaties located at coastal West Bengal includes Digha mohana, Sankarpur, Jaldha, Junput, Mandarmoni, Petuaghat etc. There are several antibiotics, herbicides, insecticides, which are indiscriminately used during the process of dry fish production and their long term preservation and they may create severe harm to the consumers in future. Moreover, dried fishes were traded to the different states of India as well as exported to different Asian countries for earning foreign currency. More than thousands of people around the coastal belt are actively involved in the production and marketing channel of dry fishes and they have smoothly maintained their livelihoods as well as uplift the socio-economic status of local people.