|
|
Post-harvest losses in
artisanal fisheries
While artisanal fisheries rarely discard
fish, they do lose a substantial amount of the
value of their catch before it can be eaten.
Particularly in tropical countries, high
temperatures mean that fish can spoil while still
in the boat, at landing, during storage or
processing, on the way to market and while waiting
to be sold. In Africa, some estimates put
post-harvest losses at 20 to 25 percent, and
sometimes as much as 50 percent.
|
|
|
Stoking
a chorkor oven in Ghana
FAO/18297/P.
Cenini
|
|
|
|
Arranging
the fish on trays for smoking in the
chorkor oven
FAO/18298/P.
Cenini
|
Post-harvest losses are divided into physical and
economic losses. Physical losses in artisanal
fisheries are less than 5 percent. High losses
occur occasionally (a whole day's catch may be lost
as a rare incident) but as a percentage of the
annual catch this would only be in the order of 1
to 2 percent. Before a fish spoils completely it
will be processed by smoking or fermentation. On
the other hand, economic losses as lost value
because of lower quality, including insect
infestation and breakage, are high.
Minimizing post-harvest losses is therefore one
key to increasing revenues and food security,
without intensifying the fishing effort. Improved
processing techniques are a large part of the
answer. Low-cost techniques have been developed by
many fishing communities, most often by the women,
who are mainly responsible for the fish after it is
landed.
Fish is an important food item in West Africa
and is mainly supplied by artisanal fishers and
processors. Fish that cannot be marketed fresh must
be preserved by sundrying, smoke-drying, salting or
fermentation. The improved Chorkor oven, which was
designed in the hamlet of Chorkor on the outskirts
of Accra, Ghana, is used to smoke sardinella and
has been successfully adopted by many communities.
The banda oven is used to smoke sardinella and
bonga, a small pelagic fish, that is a significant
part of small-scale fish catches in western
Africa.
Other stories
Preserving
the catch in Mauritania
In
Guinea, a women's group gets new fish ovens
|
