Fish drying is an age old practice and was adopted

as a practical method of preserving fish that have

not been immediately consumed or sold in the fresh

market. Improved fishing techniques and

infrastructure resulted in increased fish catch, better

marketing, processing and curing facilities. The

advent of multiday trawling at the Visakhapatnam

Fishing Harbour further boosted the availability of

fish and its processing into value added products.

However, drying still remains the cheapest and

popular mode of fish preservation

Das, Madhumita

Dash, Biswajit

Maheswarudu, G

Ramana, P V

Rohit, Prathibha

CMFRI Digital Repository

Marine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 215, 2013 3140-149 mm (Fig. 6). The DML of S. pharaonis variedbetween 224 to 310 mm.Samples of L. duvauceli from the landing centrewere brought to the laboratory for further biologicalanalyses. The DML was measured using a digitalcaliper and total body weight (TBW) (+ 0.01 g) wasdetermined using an electronic balance, after thespecimens were dried on blotting paper. The DMLranged from 70 to 310 mm with the correspondingweight ranging between 20  to 484 g. The food itemsin the gut were in well crushed and maceratedcondition, therefore it was possible only to categoriseinto groups. The Index of preponderance wasestimated as suggested by Natarajan and Jhingran(1961). It was observed that, 78.6% of the stomachswere empty and  they fed mainly on fish (96.8%)followed by prawn and squid (1.6% each). Maturitystudies were carried out following Silas (1985) and itwas found that 78.6% were in gravid condition,  7.1%in mature and 14.3% in immature condition.Fecundity ranged from 1,640 to 2,870 numbers. Thesex-ratio was observed to be 1:0.8.Since the catch is extremely fresh, it fetches veryhigh price and the fishery has become lucrative. Manyfishermen are gradually getting engaged in squidjigging. The present observation reveals theemergence of a new fishery for cephalopods alongthe Ratnagiri coast in Maharashtra. In contrast to thecephalopod catch by trawl net, the presentexploitation by jigs is highly selective and brings incomparatively larger sized cephalopods belongingto one species and the freshness of the catch makesit much more commercially viable. With theintroduction of improved facilities such as introductionof powerful artificial light attracting systems,mechanisation of jigging operations, financialassistance as well as technical know-how  to thefishermen etc, squid jigging fishery  could contributeto enhanced cephalopod production fromMaharashtra waters.An overview of dry fish landings and trade at VisakhapatnamFishing HarbourMadhumita Das, Prathibha Rohit, G. Maheswarudu, Biswajit Dash and  P. V. RamanaRegional Centre of CMFRI, VisakhapatnamFish drying is an age old practice and was adoptedas a practical method of preserving fish that havenot been immediately consumed or sold in the freshmarket. Improved fishing techniques andinfrastructure resulted in increased fish catch, bettermarketing, processing and curing facilities. Theadvent of multiday trawling at the VisakhapatnamFishing Harbour further boosted the availability offish and its processing into value added products.However, drying still remains the cheapest andpopular mode of fish preservation. Dried productsare in great demand both within and outside thecountry and form an important source of protein richfood in various forms.  Fish drying over the years,has grown from a subsistence kind of occupation toa full-fledged flourishing business. Dried fish nowcaters to different sectors such as quality fish/prawnsfor human consumption, and low value fishes for thepreparation of fish feed as well as poultry feed. AtVisakhapatnam Fishing Harbour (Fig.1), the annualproduction of dry fish ranged from 6- 9% (2225 - 4831 t)of the total fish catch during 2005-2009. SpeciesFig.1. Dry fish yard at Visakhapatnam Fishing HarbourMarine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 215, 20134composition of the dry fish produced at VisakhapatnamFishing Harbour (July - December 2009) is summerisedin Table 1.Table 1. Species composition (%) of dry fish atVisakhapatnam Fishing Harbour duringJuly- December, 2009Species %Trichiurus  lepturus 17.8Sardinella longiceps 5.4Rastrelliger kanagurta 10.8Encrasicholina sp. 6.9Decapterus sp. 6.5Pellona sp. 1.0Thryssa sp. 2.2Scomberoides sp. 2.0Other carangids 3.0Sphyraena  jello 0.3Nemipterus sp. 0.6Other perches 1.7Saurida sp. 6.1Upeneus sp. 3.2Leiognathus sp. 3.5Secutor sp. 3.5Gazza sp. 3.5Johnius sp. 8.9Tachysurus sp. 2.3Cynoglossus sp. 1.0Drepane sp. 0.6Acetus sp. 2.0Solenocera sp. 3.3Small crabs 0.3Trash fishes 2.0Parastromateus sp. 0.7Scomberomorus guttatus 0.9The process of drying involves enzymatic ormicrobial activity on the fresh fish in the presence orabsence of salt. The dried product retains most ofthe nutrient goodness of fresh fish with higherconcentrations of proteins, vitamins, iron and calcium.When packed and stored properly, dry fish has a shelflife of more than two years. Dried fish prepared forhuman consumption is in great demand both in thecoastal as well as interior areas. There is a goodexport market too available for dry fish.  In the interiorareas, dry fish form an important source of animalprotein supplement which is consumed as a main dishor used as a flavouring agent in combination with otherstaple food items. Even in the coastal region wherefresh fish is in abundance, small shrimps such asAcetes (Fig. 2), whitebaits, flatfishes, silverbellies(Fig. 3), small scads, lizardfish and sciaenids arepreferred in the dried form. However, all species ofdry fish are in great demand during the fishing banperiod when there is shortage of fresh fish in themarket. Care is taken to maintain hygienic conditionswhen the fish are being dried for human consumption.Fig. 2. Dried Acetes at Visakhapatnam Fishing HarbourFig. 3. Dried  silverbellies at Visakhapatnam FishingHarbourThe fishes for this purpose are generally salt curedand then dried on clean cement platforms madeespecially for this purpose  or on coir/palm mats onthe beach close to the landing centre. Depending onthe fish used, salt curing is done for a day or two inbig cisterns. The fish is then drained and spread as asingle layer for sun drying. Drying hours  again dependon the consumer’s requirement. Partially dried fish isrelished in some countries and in some parts of Indiatoo.  For this, the cured fish is drained and dried for4 to 5 h and then packed in baskets and sent formarketing. In fully dried products, the cured anddrained fish is sun dried for 24 to 48 h. This is thenpacked in baskets, gunny bags or boxes (Fig. 4) andsold in the market. Ribbonfish and mackerel are thetwo resources which have a good market price bothMarine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 215, 2013 5in the wet and dried condition. The ribbonfish has agreat demand in the export market, but  only the largesized clean and undamaged fishes are accepted bythe exporters. The smaller and damaged ribbonfishesare generally dried.  Mackerel too is in good demandin the fresh form, but when huge quantities are landedby the trawlers, major part of the catch is sent fordrying (Fig. 5).powdered to get the fishmeal. The fish meal is themain protein component in the preparation ofaquafeed, poultry feed and pet feed. The residualslurry is a very good source of manure in land basedagriculture. The fish meal is rich in protein and a goodsource of minerals; therefore it is in great demandfor the preparation of feeds and food supplement.The processed fishmeal powder is also marketed asa fish protein concentrate which is used as foodadditives to enrich and enhance the nutritional valueof the diet. The present market rate of dry fish atVisakhapatnam Harbour is given in Table 2.Table 2. Price of different dry fishes at the Visakhapatnamfishing harbourFish group Price (` per kg)Ribbonfish 60 - 80Seerfish 300 - 500Whitebaits 100 - 120Mackerel 50 - 60Scads 15 - 20Other carangids 30 - 60Sardines 15 - 20Black pomfret 200 - 250Lizardfish 60 - 80Goatfish 20 - 30Croakers 40 - 60Silverbellies 20 - 30Thryssa 20 - 30Shrimps 80 - 100Acetes 40 - 50Trash 6 - 14Quality fish dryingFishes like seerfish (Scomberomorus guttatus)and pomfrets (mainly  Parastromateus niger)  whichhave very high commercial value in the fresh fishmarket are also dried under situations of hugelandings of small sized fishes, shortage of ice  andslash in the price of fish in the market  etc . AtVisakhapatnam Fishing Harbour during the monthsof August and September, seerfish juvenile landingsis high and some quantity of these fishes are seento be dried in the drying yard of the harbour  (Fig. 6).It is also observed that seerfish of 1/2 kg size whendried, fetches 25-50% more economic value than thatof wet fish.Onboard fish dryingFish drying onboard the fishing vessels itself hasbecome popular. Fish dried in such a way is cleanerand devoid of sand and other unwanted materialswhich is observed in the case of land drying. TheFig. 4. Dry fish packed in gunny bags and basketsFig. 5. Dried mackerel at Visakhapatnam Fishing HarbourTrash and low value fish dryingThe trash fish brought to the shore by trawlersforms nearly 2% of the total marine fish catch andthe entire trash is used only in the dried form as fishmeal which is used for fish feed production.At Visakhapatnam, the trash after auctioning is driedfor some hours by mixing minimum quantity of saltand transported to Thimapuram beach where it isdried before being used for the preparation of fishmeal. The low value fishes generally referred to astrash, include squilla, small sized silver bellies,clupeids, carangids, crabs, perches etc, are directlysun dried on the sandy beach without any sort ofprocessing. These fishes are dried for a day or twoand then packed into gunny bags and transported tothe fish meal plants where they are further processed.The oil is extracted separately and the residueMarine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 215, 20136fishes that are to be dried onboard are salted, strungin the from of long garlands and then hung on thedeck for drying. Rows of strung fishes are displayedin the form of tents (Fig. 7). The space availableabove the cabin is also effectively used for dryingdried onboard include whitebaits, silverbellies,ribbonfish, scads, flatfishes, sciaenids and Thryssa(Fig. 9).Fig. 6. Dried seerfish at Visakhapatnam Fishing HarbourFig. 7. Rows of strung fishes displayed in the form of tents,onboard fishing trawlerFig. 8. Drying of excess fish above the cabin of fishing  boatFig. 9. Ribbonfish dried onboard fishing vesselthe fish (Fig. 8). On reaching the shore, the driedfish is packed and auctioned as is the systemfollowed for fresh fish brought by the units. This hasa double advantage for the boat owners; these fishesdo not unnecessarily use space in the fish hold andalso save on the cost of ice to be used to keep thefish in fresh condition.  The fishes that are generallyDry fish tradeThe fish dried at this harbour is sent to the localfish market, interior markets of Andhra Pradesh,markets of adjacent states (Tamil Nadu, Karnatakaand Orissa) and north east states and also to severalother countries (Sri Lanka, Singapore and Burma).In Andhra Pradesh, Nakapalli is the dominant dryfish trading centre. Hygienically dried and wellpackaged dried fish are sold at attractive prices inthe supermarkets in India as well as in gulf countriesfetching a good income for the fisher folk ofVisakhapatnam. There is still scope to increase theproduction and demand of dry fish. Another importantaspect of dry fish trade is proper distribution of thedry fish packets within the marketing chain. Themarketing structure should aim at ensuringremunerative price to the producer of dry fish andnarrow down the price spread between the producerand the consumer.Fish drying at Visakhapatnam has undergone asea change in the recent years.  Earnest efforts aremade to keep the quality of the dry fish meant forhuman consumption. Special drying platforms havebeen constructed for drying purpose to preventcontamination of sand and other pollutants. Thelocals have also been exposed to the use of dryingracks and the use of both sun and electrical dryersfor hygienic and effective drying of fish. The trashafter auctioning is transported to Thimapuram andBhimli beach where it is beach dried before beingused for the preparation of fish meal.Fish drying and marketing is generally the forteof the women folk though a few men have nowMarine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 215, 2013 7entered the business. The activity that started off asa subsistence form of occupation has now developedinto an organised sector providing employment andeconomic security to those engaged in this activityat Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour. These womenare engaged fulltime in procuring, curing, drying,packing and marketing of dried fish at Visakhapatnamby adopting certain hygienic and marketingstrategies. Further popularisation of drying racks andidentifying separate fish drying yards near to thefishing harbour will go a long way in improving thequality of the fish dried and also increased utilisationof dry fish for human consumption. This in turn willincrease the income of the fisher folk engaged infish drying, generate interest among others to takeup fish drying activity as fulltime employment and ingeneral improve the living standards of the coastalfisher folk.Feasibility and growth of hatchery produced green mussel(Perna viridis) spat in Bhimili Estuary, Visakhapatnam,  Andhra PradeshP. Laxmilatha, T. Nageswara Rao, M. Prasada Rao, P. Pattnaik, S. Padmaja Rani,Loveson Edward and S. VeenaRegional Centre of CMFRI, VisakhapatnamThe Bhimili Estuary situated in VisakhapatnamDistrict of Andhra Pradesh is a fairly large but shallowestuary and supports the livelihood of over 5000fishers. Nearly 3000 clam/oyster pickers exploit thebivalve resources of this estuary. The Gostani Riverjoins the sea at Bhimilipatnam carrying freshwaterfrom Anantagiri hills, Padmanabhan, Boni,Pandrangi, Taditorru, Gudivada, Chittivalasa, Jutmill,Mulakuddu and Nagamayyapalem.Green mussel (Perna viridis) spat was producedin the bivalve hatchery of Visakhapatnam RegionalCentre of Central Marine Fisheries ResearchInstitute.  Hatchery produced spat of P. viridis weretransferred to Bhimili Estuary to study the suitabilityof the site for mussel farming, for monitoring growthperformance of the mussel and also for musselculture demonstration.  The hatchery produced spatof 17.7 mm  APM (antero-posterior measurement)and 0.6 g weight, were stocked in velon mesh bagsand placed in netlon cages and suspended from arack erected in the Bhimili Estuary at a depth of 2 min the month of February.  After two months,  whenthe spat attained over 25 mm size, they wereremoved from the velon mesh bags and stocked innetlon cages. The growth was monitored from the47th day onwards. The shell length, shell width, shellthickness, total weight and meat weight wererecorded. The growth rate per day and specific Fig. 1. Growth of Perna viridis in Bhimili Estuarygrowth rate % (SGR %) were calculated.  The SGRwas calculated using the formula:SGR% = [(ln L2 – ln L1) / (T2 -T1)] * 100 where, L1 and L2   are mean shell length/meanshell width/mean shell thickness/mean total wetweight  at times T1 and T2  in  days.The green mussel recorded good growth in theBhimili Estuary. They attained a final mean size of36.45 mm APM, 20.15 mm DVM (dorsoventralmeasurement), 12.18 mm thickness and total weightof 5.75 g in 195 days of rearing (Fig. 1).  The growth

Overview of dry fish landings and trade at Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

CMFRI Digital Repository