Dried fish at the intersection of food science, economy, and culture: A global survey

Abstract

Dried fish-here defined broadly as aquatic animals preserved using simple techniques, such as sun-drying, salting, fermentation, and smoking that permit storage as foods at ambient temperature for extended periods without specialized packaginghave received little direct attention in fisheries research. This lack of visibility belies their historical and contemporary importance. Prior to the introduction of refrigeration, dried fish were the main form in which fisheries catches were traded and consumed. Dried fish products remain a core component of production, trade, diets, and cuisines across the world, particularly in the Global South. The dried fish sector provides employment for millions of people, particularly women, who comprise most of the fish-drying workforce in many locations. However, the sector also confronts and creates significant challenges including food safety concerns and exploitative labour conditions. This paper is the first systematic assessment of the global literature on dried fish, comprised of a sample of >1100 references. In contrast to the general fisheries literature, which is dominated by studies of ecology and governance and focusses mainly on primary production, the dried fish literature is dominated by studies from food science and concentrates on the processing segment of fish value chains.As such, it offers valuable reference point for fisheries research, which is becoming increasingly attentive to food systems. This paper uncovers a wealth of insights buried in this largely unheralded literature, and identifies key thematic intersections, gaps and research questions that remain to be addressed in the study of dried fish.

Market women’s skills, constraints, and agency in supplying affordable, safe, and high-quality fish in Ghana

“…We conclude that the perspective on fish supply chain governance needs to be reshuffled from an almost one-sided focus on the fish resources and production, to a stronger focus on post-harvest activities and a holistic view on the value of fish resources for FSN (Belton et al 2022;Simmance et al 2021). To this end, state and city governments should not only appreciate the efforts of female informal traders, who constitute the backbone of Ghana's resilient and pro-poor fish distribution system, but also in their budgets to prioritize market infrastructure upgrading, financial support, and training in fish quality and safety.…”

“…In this study, we take the opposite perspective of what Belton et al (2022) call a "productivist" focus on fisheries and instead pay attention to the crucial role for FSN of the trader segment in the supply chain. This emphasis resonates well with the current shift in discourse from a dominant focus on fish as either an economic resource from which to profit or as stocks in need of conservation, to valuing fish primarily as a micronutrient-dense resource to be sustainably used as food (e.g., Cohen et al 2019;Bennett et al 2021;Golden et al 2021).…”

Illuminating informal cross-border trade in processed small pelagic fish in West Africa

“…Low-income households have been found to rely on small fish products as necessities owing to their inability to afford alternative nutritional value products (Dey 2000). In particular, in the global South, dried fish products have been found to contribute to food and nutrition security, health, livelihoods and the social and cultural wellbeing of low-income households (Belton et al 2022). The demand for these low-cost small pelagic fish products has been growing owing to their relatively low price and their availability in local markets (Ayilu and Appiah 2020).…”

“…Yet, the scale and importance of these trade activities are seldomly acknowledged, are poorly understood, and have received insufficient scholarly attention in the West African context. Most studies on fisheries tend to focus on fishers and ignore the actors and the processes in the midstream and downstream sectors of the value chain, including domestic trade and cross-border trade (Belton et al 2022). The aspects of ICBT, particularly for small-scale fisheries, deserves the needed consideration by academics and policymakers because they provide significant economic and livelihood potentials.…”

“…consumers' purchasing power, business opportunities, shared heritage and connections and taste and preference). The study adds to the existing literature on fisheries by providing a picture of the small pelagic fish trade in West Africa and discusses the ways in which the trade and commodity flows are intertwined with social cultural and economic structures and processes (Belton et al 2022;Fröcklin et al 2013).…”