Appendix three - Draft questionnaire on fish consumption, Vanuatu
1. Have you eaten fish or shellfish this (seven day) week?
2. How many times?
3. Did you eat |
tinned fish (no. of times) |
big short thin |
poulet fish or tuna (no. of times) (drop-lined or trolled fish) |
||
reef fish or laplap fish (no. of times) |
||
shellfish, octopus, clams etc. (no. of times) |
4. Did you (or your father/mother/family) |
buy the fish |
or | |
catch/gather the fish | |
5. If you (they) bought the fish, did you buy |
from a shop |
at a market | |
from a fisherman |
6. If you (they) bought the fish, how much did you pay?
per kg (fish) |
per piece |
||
per basket/item |
per tin: big |
small |
thin |
7. How many people in your household (eat together)?
8. When your household has a meal including fish, does everyone eat it? (if no, who doesn't: child, man, woman?)
9. How many people in your household get paid for their work? (have regular. paid work or sell produce on a regular basis)
10. Where do you live?
11. Are you Ni-Vanuatu or other Pacific Islander (what)
********
12. To women who fish and/or gather shellfish and octopus:
What is the age range of your children/ how old are they now?
Appendix four - Small grants scheme draft application - salt fish
1. Project name:
Salt fish. Vanuatu
2. Managers:
Fisheries Training Centre. Santo and?
3. Location:
Aneityum. Tanna. Malekula and Santo islands, Vanuatu
Beneficiaries: rural communities, women, low income households (urban and rural), national export income
4. Description:
Production of dried, salted fish for local and export consumption.
A suite of nearshore pelagic fishes, commonly termed 'mangrou', are seasonally abundant in Vanuatu from about late January to the end of August (depending on the island group). The fish are targeted by communities mainly with seine and cast nets and are consumed in villages and sold in local markets. The fish include sardines (Clupeidae), small carangids (e.g. Selar, Decapterus) and mackerel (e.g. Rastrelliger). In some western Pacific countries the resource is used locally for longline bait, bait for sports fishing or for pole-and-line fishing, but there does not appear to be sufficient demand from these in Vanuatu.
Several factors mean that there is considerable wastage of the resource. It cannot be kept more than a day where there is no ice nor refrigeration - i.e. in most areas. It occurs in such abundance that each well-directed net sweep catches many fish (surplus to home requirements). Its local abundance means that surplus fish offered for sale attracts low prices or cannot be sold. Ni-Vanuatu have no traditional means of keeping the fish and generally are untrained in appropriate postharvest handling.
Simple salting and drying of fish is performed in some tropical countries, but frequently the success of the drying and the time it takes is affected by rain; and under those circumstances driers fanned by hot air or fires are used and these are generally larger constructions (as for beche-de-mer drying). A simple method of solar drying has been recently identified: it uses galvanised tin, perspiglass and fly-wire and is placed on the roofs of houses. Because product drying in it is protected from rain, it is simple to use, is inexpensive, and offers protection from pests (screens, positioning) it is considered appropriate to drying fish fish in Vanuatu in the village or community situation. The only other 'ingredients identified for the project (apart from fish) are large contained (e.g. 44-gallon drum), a supply of salt, water, plastic sheeting and a heat sealer.
A export market for the dried product is already available and a Vanuatu businessman has already established links into that market. A new, domestic market could be established - and indeed, is desirable (point 6 below).
Salted/dried fish will last 1.5-4 years if vacuum sealed. Small mullet, mangrou, sardines are suitable. Larger fish (not fifing in jars, for example) can be sold to Vila and Santo consumers.
Rural processors can pack the finished product into plastic bags, seal them, and airfreight or sea freight) the packs to Vila where a buyer/middleman will repack and vacuum seal in presentation jars (or whatever would be appropriate).
It is suggested that 2-3 years would be required for the project to become fully operational.
Prices ranging from 400 vt-600 vt/150 g could be realised for good quality dried sardines. However, product of this quality can only be achieved by 'practising' on lower quality fish and selling it to local consumers.
Quality assurance and marketing are elements of the project that must be built in at the beginning.
5. Objectives and planned output:
This project is aimed at addressing several needs.
1. bringing income to rural areas.
2. involving women in commercial production of a fish product.
3. providing women with income from fisheries resources with moderately little extra work and expense.
4. providing an alternative, low cost fish product for domestic urban markets.
S. developing a product which is economical in freight costs. post-harvest care and has little spoilage capability.
6. utilises a resource that is seasonally abundant.
7. provides a new export to an established market (Asia).
8. introducing a new skill to coastal communities.
6 Justification and expected outputs:
This project will provide a steady income to low income families in urban Vanuatu and to rural communities through utilising an apparently abundant. seasonal resource. The fish can be processed and stored so that there is minimum of wastage and they will provide fish protein to families in urban and rural areas long after the fresh fish have disappeared.
Presently, stocks of mangrou and sardines/herrings are negatively impacted by the combination of
- people fishing with gillnets and cast nets of small mesh size (unregulated)
- inadequate knowledge of and facilities for good post-harvest handling, such that many caught fish have to be discarded
- the limited buying power of communities where the fish are caught and the communities inadequate storage capabilities
- too many people fishing
- limited access to markets (or uneconomic)
- lack of ice
The outputs cannot be quantified at present because there have been no studies done on stock size (anecdotal information is that it is/was substantial) and product processing/yield.
7. Project costs. inputs, local contribution and amount of funding requested
Inputs:
training at the Fisheries Training Centre, Santo - pilot studies (different species, salting levels, access to local supplies, quality management, post harvest handling; business management)
instruction by expert (Filipino suggested) in appropriate brining technique
follow-up in pilot areas
market investigation, product testing
contruction of solar drier and instruction on use
testing of solar drier in local conditions
plastic sheeting and heat sealers
provision of glass jars, preserving, export shipping
8. Assessment of project's technical feasibility, financial viability and sustainability
Technical
Does not rely on the regular contribution from one area. as the fish are seasonal i.e. any communities can harvest
Does not deteriorate while awaiting transport
Does not require electricity
Does not sustain damage in the wet season
Is light-weight, hence freighting costs are low
No immediacy of transporting required as properly prepared product will not deteriorate
Identified expert is familiar with quality required for the identified market
Financial
Funds for villagers to attend Fisheries Training Centre. Suggest two from several local villages, then continuing training program
Follow-up program - trainer travelling to villages
Expert (fares, DSA,...)
Sustainable
Presence of resource
Presence of market and routes
Presence and skills of middlemen in Vanuatu
Maintenance of quality product
9. Assessment of any benefit to women
Women are the target beneficiaries of the project. Rural women will benefit from being able to earn income that does not take them away from their communities and which should not impact greatly on their busy daily schedule. Ultimately urban women from low income households would benefit from having access to a low priced protein food (as 'stretchable' as tinned fish, and flavoured). Community nutrition should improve as the new food is accepted in the community. Harvesting of alternative and traditionally targeted inshore fish resources - especially near urban areas - should be relieved. Finally, the national economy should benefit from a reduction in the amount of imported tinned fish.
10. Implementation schedule
The mangrou season begins early each year - January-February.
Work needed:
resource assessment - species composition, occurrence, seasonality. sustainable yield (susceptibility to toxicity). Fisheries Department.
development and manufacture of solar drier
development of suitable brining technique. Fisheries Training Centre +?Filipino expert +? (businessman)
identification of market
development of quality standards
preparation of extension information on drying and utilising (eating: recipes)