D K Pandey³

H Bharati

P Debroy

Prof Asso

Prof Asst

R Santhakumar²

Y Jackie Singh¹

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36 Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 12 (1), January, 2012
Adoption of Hygienic Fish Handling Practices by Fishermen
Y. Jackie Singh¹, R. Santhakumar², D.K Pandey³, H. Bharati4 and P. DebRoy5
1. Asst. Prof., 3. Asso. Prof., Dept. of Fisheries Ext., College of Fisheries, Tripura-10,
2. Prof., Fisheries College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu, 4 & 5. Research Scholars, CIFE, Mumbai-61.
Corresponding author e-mail: jky.ext@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This paper attempts to explore the extent of adoption of hygienic fish handling practices among the mechanized
fishermen of Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu. Data on the extent of adoption of hygienic fish handling practices
among the fishermen were collected through personal interview. Of the 10 practices evaluated, the adoption scores
were higher for five practices viz., Icing of fish (96.67%), Cleaning of deck (94.17%), Cleaning of fish hold and
accessories (90.83%), Packaging of fish (77.50%) and Personal Hygiene (60.83%).It was observed that erratic
price fluctuations; lack of cold storage; and insufficient loans and subsidies were the major problems faced by the
fishermen in practising the hygienic fish handling practices. Price regulation by Government intervention;
establishment of cold storage in auction hall; and providing sufficient loans and subsidies without collateral
security from banks were the suggestions of the fishermen for the perceived problems.
Key words: Adoption; Mechanized fishermen; Hygienic; Fish handling practices;
Tamil Nadu has 1079 km long coastline with 0.19
million ha of EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) and
41,412 sq. km of continental shelf. About 6, 90,000
marine fishermen from 591 fishing villages along the
coastline are fishing with 53,844 traditional and 12,325
mechanized crafts (Sakthivel, 2008).Consumer’s
greatest concern is the quality and safety of food they
eat. To achieve these, it is important to popularize good
hygienic practices. The post-harvest handling of catch
is the most important step in the production of a high
quality finished product (Balasubramaniam et al.,
2009). The freshness of the fish is very important and
has become a major issue in the fishing industry. The
quality of the product reaching the end user will greatly
depend on how the fish was handled onboard the vessel,
how it was preserved, packaged, transported, etc. Much
emphasis has been given on hygienic handling of the
fish right from catch in order to ensure good quality and
long storage life. Primary responsibility for ensuring the
quality of landed fish rests with those who handle it
onboard. Many factors affect the quality of fish onboard
such as cleanliness of the deck and fish holds, quality
and quantity of water used, temperature at which fish
is maintained, the general handling practices adopted,
cleanliness of the equipments and utensils used in
handling, packaging and storage and the personal hygiene
of the fish handlers. The quality of ice is of utmost
importance to preserve fishery products from being
spoiled. The ice should be made of fresh water or
portable water to produce good quality ice. Therefore,
the study was designed with following objectives :
(a) To study the extent of adoption of improved hygienic
fish handling practices among fishermen
(b) To study the relationship among socio-personal
characteristics of fishermen and their adoption
behavior and
(c) To identify the problems in adoption of hygienic fish
handling practices and suggestions to overcome the
problems.
METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted during 2008-2009 among
the fishermen in three fishing villages of Thoothukudi
district in Tamil Nadu viz. Tharuvaikulam, Thoothukudi
South and Thoothukudi North. The data were collected
from a random sample of 120 fishermen. The selected
practices viz., on board cleaning, cleaning of fish hold
and accessories, washing of fish, sorting of fish,
evisceration and removal of gills and bleeding of big
fishes, packaging of fish, icing of fish, personnel hygiene,
auction hall cleaning and handling of fish in auction hall
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Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 12 (1), January, 2012 37
were carefully verified.The adoption level of each
respondent was calculated using the formula developed
by Kumaran et al.(2003).
nAdoption= 100
N
×
n = No. of respondents who had adopted the practice
N = Total number of respondents
Socio-economic characteristics viz., age,
educational status, marital status, family status,
occupational status, annual income, information source
exposure, economic motivation, social participation
status, mass media exposure, experience in fishing,
contact with extension agency, scientific orientation,
training undergone, innovativeness and knowledge level
were also selected for the study. The data were
randomly collected from 120 respondents through
personal interview with the help of pre-tested survey
schedule and the data were analyzed using statistical
methods like percentage analysis, mean, standard
deviation, correlation coefficient etc.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The study revealed that some of the important
practices were not adopted by the fishermen (Table 1).
It could be seen that the fishermen had not adopted the
practices such as washing of fish on board (100.0%),
sorting of fish (84.17%), evisceration and removal of
gills and bleeding of big fishes (100.0%), personal
hygiene (39.17%), auction hall cleaning (93.33%) and
hygienic handling of fish in auction hall (86.67%). The
practices such as cleaning of deck (94.17%), cleaning
of fish hold and accessories (90.83%), packaging of
fish (77.50%), icing of fish (96.67%), personal hygiene
(60.83%) were adopted by the fishermen.
It could be concluded that the adoption of hygienic
fish handling practices by fishermen was very much
influenced by educational status, annual income,
information source exposure, mass media exposure,
experience in fishing, scientific orientation,
innovativeness and knowledge level (Table 2).
Table 2. Correlation between the socio-personal
characteristics of fishermen and their adoption
S.No. Variables r-value
X1 Age 0.0424457
X2 Educational status 0.3128**
X3 Marital status 0.0891NS
X4 Family status 0.0986NS
X5 Occupational status 0.0374NS
X6 Annual income 0.4136**
X7 Information source exposure 0.3415**
X8 Economic motivation 0.0102NS
X9 Social participation status 0.1417NS
X10 Mass media exposure 0.2936*
X11 Experience in fishing 0.2748**
X12 Contact with extension agency -0.0352NS
X13 Scientific orientation 0.3142**
X14 Training undergone 0.1573NS
X15 Innovativeness 0.4714**
X16 Knowledge level 0.5138**
Note: * - Significant at 5% level, ** - Significant at 1% level,
NS – Non-significant
The problems faced by the fishermen regarding
adoption of hygienic fish handling practices have been
presented in Table 3. The erratic fluctuation in the price
of fish was the major problem as reported by the
majority of the fishermen (84.16%). Lack of cold storage
and insufficient loans/subsidies were the other problems
reported by 75.83 per cent and 74.16 per cent of the
fishermen, respectively.
Table 3. Problems perceived by the fishermen (n=120)
S.No. Problems No.* %
1. Erratic price fluctuations 101 84.16
2. Lack of cold storage facilities 91 75.83
3. Insufficient loans/ subsidies 89 74.16
*Multiple response
Table 1. Extent of adoption of hygienic fish handling
practices by the fishermen
S.
Practices
Adoption Non adoption
No. No. % No. %
1. Cleaning of deck 113 94.17 7 5.83
2. Cleaning of fish hold 109 90.83 11 9.17
and accessories
3. Washing of fish 0 0 120 100
4. Sorting of fish 19 15.83 101 84.17
5. Evisceration and removal 0 0 120 100
of gills and bleeding of
big fishes
6. Packaging of fish 93 77.50 27 22.50
7. Icing of fish 116 96.67 4 3.33
8. Personal Hygiene 73 60.83 47 39.17
9. Auction hall cleaning 8 6.67 112 93.33
10. Hygienic handling 16 13.33 104 86.67
of fish in auction hall
11 Average adoption of 45.58 54.42
all practices put together
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38 Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 12 (1), January, 2012
It could be seen from the results furnished in Table
4 that majority of the fishermen (77.50%) suggested
the regulation of price by Government intervention while
70.00 per cent of the fishermen suggested to establish
cold storage in auction hall and 62.50 per cent
respondents suggested to provide sufficient loans/
subsidies without collateral security from banks.
Table 4. Measures suggested by the fishermen
S.No. Suggestion No.* %
1. Price regulation by Government 93 77.50
intervention
2. Establishment of cold storage in 84 70.00
auction hall
3. Provide sufficient loans/ 75 62.50
subsidies without collateral
security from banks
*Multiple response
CONCLUSION
The fishermen of Tamil Nadu coasts are
carrying out hygienic fish handling practices on their
own experiences and most of the technical aspects
of carrying out right hygienic fish handling practices
to get quality fish by consumers are not known to
them. Change in their socio-economic characteristics
is needed to bring about change in their adoption
behaviour It is essential that all the mechanised
fishermen be undertaken induction training so that they
understand the food safety risks associated with
handling fish. They need to be trained in basic hygiene
and handling to ensure the production of safe seafood.
Regulations should be formed to avoid the fluctuation
of prices of fish commodities so that they get fair price
returns for practising hygienic fish handling operations.
Sufficient number of cold storage facilities should be
established in the auction hall to avoid the spoilage of
the fish and there is need to simplify the procedure of
loan/subsidies so that maximum number of the
fishermen can be benefited.
Paper received on : November 19, 2011
Accepted on : December 18, 2011
REFERENCES
1. Balasubramaniam, S., J. Charles and Krishna Srinath (2009). Adoption of hygienic practices at Fish Landing Centres and
Markets. Fish. Technology. 46 : 177-184.
2. Kumaran, M., P. Ravichandran, B.P. Gupta and A. Nagavel, 2003. Shrimp farming practices and its socio-economic
consequences in east Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. A Case study. Aquaculture Asia, 8 (3): 48-52.
3. Sakthivel, M. (2008). Establishment of fisher’s institute of Tamil Nadu (FIT) : A proposal. Fishing Chimes. 28 (9): 9-11.
******
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Adoption of Hygienic Fish Handling Practices by Fishermen

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