A NOTE ON MARKETING AND PRESERVATION OF FISH IN SAURASHTRA, INDIA

1. Importance of the Fisheries.-The coastal (i) Local Markets.--In the important cities of fisheries of Saurashtra from Malia to Sultanpur Saurashtra, such as Jamnagar, Porbunder, Veraval yielded 856,000 maundsl of fish during 1950-51 and Rajkot, fish markets are not kept in sanitary and 955,000 maunds during 1951-52. The land- condition. The Porbunder market is the largest ings of different types of fishes along with the and handles about 3,800 maunds of fish per year. regions in 19j1- j2 are indicated below : The Veraval market is situated nearer to the landing Table I

I Fisheries Zone Catches in Mds. Percentage

I. Bombay Duck Jafiarahad to Nawabunder (Harpocloiz)

2. Perches, Sea breams, Sharks, Throughout Iiays, etc. Veraval, Mangrol, Porhundar, Jamnagar

4. Sciaenn and Polynevms II~lar,Veraval 5. Prawns and Coilia, Trichizirzl.~ I-Ialar, Veravnl etc. G. Mullets, etc. IIalar, South West

The catches of the Japanese trawler, " Taiyo place but it is rather small. In places like Jodiya Maru ", from December, 1951, to March, 1952, Salaya, Malia, Nawabunder, Mangrol, etc., there amounting to 22,500 mauncls and valued at 230,000 are no regular markets at all. rupees, are included in the above figures. Most of (ii) Ozrtside Markets.-As marketing of fish in the other catches were made within 7 to 8 miles Saurashtra depends mainly on export to places like from the shore. Ahmedabad, Agra, Ajmer, Surat, Billimora, Baroda, The total landings of 955,000 maunds were sold Navsari and Bombay, primary attention has to be for Rs. 5j lakhs. paid to the improvement of existing facilities for Distribution.-Only 7 to 8%, of the population such trade. of the State of Saurashtra are fish eaters. Hence, The export trade of fish was and in many places only about 5% of the catch can be consumed locally, still is in the hands of petty fish traders who buy the rest being exported. The fishing industry in the fish from landing places at rates which are fixed Saurashtra is, therefore, intimately linked with export every season or annually. The local rates for markets and any increase in fish production by more 1950-j~and 1951-52 are given in Appendix I. effective exploitation of the seas and productive Before the reorganisation of the Fisheries Depart- inland waters is always likely to give rise to a glut ment and establishment of Co-operative Societies, in the local sales centres, unless marketing facilities these petty merchants used to bind the fishermen are considerably improved, and this in turn will to the established low prices by advancing them adverseIy affect the efforts to develop and improve loans. This practice existed until 1950-51, but the fisheries. duriag 1951-52 a system was adopted of fixing the

*Deputy Director of ~arine"Products,Jamnagar, Saurashtra, India ' One maund = 40 lbs. prices by a Committee of two representatives of If greater sea transport facilities are afforded, the fishermen, two representatives of traders and the difference between the Bombay and Saurashtra District Fisheries Officer. The benefit to the prices can be reduced with increased returns for fishermen was obvious and immediate. The tvhole- the fishermen. sale price per maund of assorted fish rose from The markets in Bombay can at present take only Rs. 4-7-3 to Rs. j-12-3 per maund or from Rs. 0-1 -10 a limited quantity of fish. Even with the cold to Rs. 0-2-4 per lb., mainly because of co-operative storage facilities available in the city, it is not prac- marketing. The above price structure appears ticable under present refrigeration conditions to to be low, but in fact this was the price for Harpodon move the fish inland by rail from Bombay if it has which amounted to 6j% of the fishery. Prime already been in transit by sea. In view of this, fishes like " ghol " (Sciaena) and " Dara " (Poly- it is necessary to consider the export of fresh fish nemus) wcre sold at Rs. 0-3-3 per lb., wholesale, to the interior of the country by rail from landing Pomfrets at Rs. (average in Halar and Veraval) 0-7-0 places in Saurashtra itself. At present about 5% and " Surmai" (Cybium), " Palla " (Hilsa), etc., of the total catch is iced and exported by rail to at Rs. 0-4-0. The price structure cannot be further Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Abu, Baroda, Surat, Billimora, increased unless faster and cheaper transport methods Navsari and Bombay. It takes about 24 hours to are made available. reach Bombay and the condition of the fish dete- Marketing has been taken up in Veratral by the riorates due to rough handling and lack of insulated fishermen's Co-operative Societies known as the storage. The normal charges for transport of fish Mahasagar Sahakari Mandal. Fish to the value by rail from Veraval to Bombay is as follows: of r30,ooo rupees was marketed in 4 months of Veraval to Bombay Per Maud of 40 16s. 1951. Tenders were invited for the purchase of the output of the members of the Veraval Society ; Rail charges Hs. 3-13-0 the fish was delivered at the landing places and sale Handling charges Rs. 0-10-0 proceeds immediately collected. The fishermen Ice ----Rs. 1-0 -0 are thus able to obtain 10% more of the sale price than was the case in 1950-51. The export trade Total per md, Rs. 5- 7-0 of fish is effected by sea, rail and land routes. About -- 89% of the exported fish was sent by sea, out of Even though the space available for the transport which 81% was sun-dried Bombay Duck and of fish by rail has been increased from roo to zoo Coilia, 9% cured fish like Jewfish, Indian Salmon, cases in 1952, this quota was much below the re- Perches, Mullets, Hilsa, etc., and about 94% iced quirements of about 250 cases during the season. and chilled fish, like Pomfrets, Hilsa, Sea breams, The high cost of transportation naturally affects Jewfish and Indian Salmon. Sun-dried fish, cured the price of fish received at the producing centres. fish and manure were exported to Gujarat. Apart However, transport by rail is a necessity and more from two powcr vessels carrying iced fish from fish should go to Ajmer, Abu, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jamnagar, catches from Veraval and Mangrol were Delhi, Dehra Dun, Ahmedabad etc. 'This can only taken to Bombay in country craft for which journey be successfully effected by providing facilities at even carrier launches take about 28 to 30 hours. landing centres for cold storage and cheap ice, reduction of freight charges, faster and larger In view of the better prices prevailing in Bomb?y for iced and chilled fish and since transportation 1s carriages and refrigerated cars. cheaper by sea than by rail, it is necessary to en- Road transport, which is by country carts, is courage transport by sea by providing fast carrier resorted to in Saurashtra only for nearby towns, launches with insulated storage and cheaper ice although iced fish is transported from Jamnagar and cold storage facilities at landing and receiving by carts and lorries. The cured and dried fish is centres. The cost of transporting one maund of exported to Ahmedabad in North Halar State by fish from Veraval to Bombay is as follows : country carts and camels. Veraval to Bombay Per Maund of 40 Ibs The prices ruling in Bombay for prime fish, Launch hire per trip Rs. 2-1-0 iced and chilled, are shown in Appendix 11. As Ice charges Rs. 1-0-0 fish marketing in Saurashtra depends entirely upon Landing charges at export of fish and fish products, the following Veraval and Bombay Rs. 0-8-0 facilities are considered highly desirable. More fresh fish must be sent with ice instead of as cured or semi-dried fish, although Harpodon will still have to be sundried until canning is taken up. An iced " Ghol " weighing 20 Ibs. is valued in Saurashtra (Rased on a hired launch with a 44 ton fish hold). at Rs. 41- and in Bomhay at Rs. 7/- to 7-8-0, while the same fish salted fetches only *s, 2-15-0 to 3i- who process about 50 to 70 maunds of fish per due to loss in weight and palatability. Ice and day and are paid in kind. salting charges, labour and transportation remain- ing the same, curing could be eliminated to a great (iii) Sun-drying of Prawns.--'The Gulf of Kutch extent if ice factories, cold storages, refrigerated coast produces about 140,000 maunds of prawns wagons, cheap transport charges and carrier launches every year. The prawns are boiled in were available at prime fish-producing centres like +gallon kerosene tins with about 1/8 part of VeravaI, Mangrol, Porbandar and Jamnagar. In salt and spread on the sand or on bamboo mats the case of dried, semi-dried or salted fishes, the for drying. This process takes about 48 to 50 hours, existing transport methods are adequate, if the after which the prawns are placed in gunny bags charges are reduced. and vigorously beaten. The shells of prawns, except the telson and part of the carapace, are Preservation of fish.-The methods of fish completely removed by this process and the preservation in Saurashtra State depend mainly on contents are then seived to obtain full grown the nature of the market and transport conditions prawns, I& to 2" in size, which are then finally and may be divided into five categories : packed in gunny bags. Seven to 7b mds. of I. Drying fresh prawns yield about I maund of processed 2. Salting and drying/Dry curing prawns and 24 mds. of prawn shell manure. 3. Icing and chilling Owing to the abundance of prawns and as the 4. Manure making season lasts from August to November, each boat 5. Processing fins, maws and oil has to process about 20 maunds of prawns per The quantities of fish utilised for the various catching day ; hence pre-boiling may not always neth hods of processing in Saurashtra in 1951-52 be possible. Prawns which are dried on sand are presented in Appendix 111. without boiling are whitish and brittle and are of second class quality. During 1951-52, the Fisheries Department demonstrated to the fisher- (a) Sun-drying men a hygienic method of drying prawns. 'These 'rhc most important fishes which are sun-dried prawns had a chocolate hue resembling the are Harpodon neherezcs, Coilia dussumierii, and Karachi prawns and sold at Its. 30 to 3j per Peneus and Metapenaeus spp. maund, i,e., a 200% increase in price. Out of the total catches of 955,000 maunds Semi-drying of prawns is done only by the 625,500 maunds, or 65% are sun-dried. Except for Fisheries Department. The prawns are boiled Coilia, shore perches and small Sciaena, sundrying for about 10 minutes in a saturated solution of of Harpodon (Bombla) or Perches (Jinga) has attained salt and immediately cooled for about an hour. a satisfactory standard. They are then shelled, dried for 24 to 36 hours (i) Sun-drying of " Bombla " (Ilarpodon nehe- and packed. Only large prawns 6 to 7" long reus).--'The Gujrat fishermen of Kolak, Umarsadi, are suitable for this kind of processing. Six Ibs Daman etc., come to Kajpara, Simar, Nawa- of fresh prawns give about I Ib of semi-dried bunder and Jaffarabad during the season (from prawns, orange brown in colour and very attrac- November to the end of February) to fish in the tive. During 1951-52, about 1,200 lbs of semi- inshore waters for Bombla which is then preserved. dried prawns were manufactured and sold at Special raised scaffoldings with wooden poles Rs. 21- per Ib, and thick coir ropes of I to I&" diameter are constructed. The fish is washed well in sea water, split open into two except near the tail (b) Salt Curing and hung over the ropes without any appli- About 14% of the fish ate cured by salting cation of salt. 'rhe fish is thus sun-dried within in this State. During 1,951-52, 133,760 maunds 72 hours, with a loss of about 70% in weight. of fish were salted, out of which $3,220 mds, This method of drying is quite hygienic. It is were Sciaena and Polynemus, and 64,204 mds, then packed neatly in bundles of 1,000 fish. The consisted of Hilsa, Perches, Mullets, Sharks, Rays, total quantity of Harpodon dried during 1951-52 Pomfrets, Sea breams etc. was 57jI460 mds. Wet curing is the most important method. The (ii) Murasnesox (Wams) require more time State has two good fish curing yards at Salaya and for drying and the finished product is not as Nawabunder but the facilities offered (which in- attractive as Iiarpodon. The processing of clude a subsidy of 25% of the cost of salt) are " Bombla " and " Wams " takes much time and not properly used and salt is usually taken on board the fishermen therefore employ special labour,' the " Machwa" boats. The larger fish, such as each boat tindal ehgaging about IO to 12 labourers! the 34 ft. Sciaetta and Polynemus, are split up the be&-, gutted, washed in sea water and saltecl. The 23,850 maunds of fish manure. No special techni- quantity of salt used for preservation is about 25 cal method is used for the disintegration of the to 30% of the total weight of fish. The " Ghol ", fish and the fishermen dry the unsaleable, in- " Dara " and " Palla " fishermen fishing in Halar edible or small fish into manure. The Jaffarabad use about 23,000 maunds of salt from March to and Nawabunder fishermen make manure out of May. Sciaena and f'olynemus lose about 50% of C'oilia dussumhrii, young and spoilt Hmpodon, their weight when cured. They are not spread fichiurus, Stolephorus and rays. l'hc manure is out and dried. coarse and contains only about 4% of nitrogen by weight. It is packed in gunny sacks and sold at (c) Chilling and Icing Rs. z/zj- a maund. 'I'he fishermen of Malia and Out of the total amount of fish exported, 12~4, Mahuva make manure out of prawn shells. This or I 14,600 maunds are sent, iced and chilled, manure is not properly sieved and graded and con- to Jamnagar, Jodiya, Salaya, Veraval Porbandar tains considerable quantities of sand. The prawn and Mangrol. A great amount of fish, especially manure made by the Department of Fisheries was pomfrets, is exported by sea from Veraval and of a fine variety and contained about 58% of nitrogen. Mmgrol. Jamnagar exported during 1951-52 The Department demonstrated to the fishermen of about 7,000 maunds of Sciaena and I'olynemus Veraval how to utilise guts and gills of fish and heads chilled with crushed ice. The sea trade is by of sharks and rays as manure. mechanized carrier launches or by country craft. This fish may be thus conserved for some 30 hours, As far as possible, salt curing -will be discouraged, as welI-packed, finely-crushed ice is placed in large and chilling with ice and cold storage preservation quantities between the layers. About 10 nlaunds promoted, as fresh fish fetch bettcr prices. of ice are used for 9 inaunds of fish, and a profitable trade by sea is carried on between Saurashtra and (e) l'rocessi~g oJ f&s uwd ;Claws Bombay city. 'l'hc Dcpartmcnt of 12isheries has had con- Iced fish is also exportud by rail frorri Jamnagdr, siderable succcss in introducing and improving Salaya, Jodiya, Veraval and Porbandar, and through the methods of processing shark fins and fish maws Bombay to Surat, Billirnora, Ajmer, Ahmedabad, (sounds). 'l'he 1111s of all varieties of Xhynclzobatus Abu and Rajkot. Each maund of fish is packed and C'urcharius above 5 fcet in length are now with an equal quantity of ice in deal wood cases. cut off at thcir joints, the flesh removed, Jimnagar, Salaya, and Jodiya export about jo to washed, given a lime application and dried for 60 cases (each containing 2 maunds) per day during 48 hours. The State now produces 2,600 maunds the season and Veraval and Porbandar about 80 to of this valuable by-product which commands a 90 cases, which is the maximum quota allowed good price. The dark fins fetch about Rs. 1/4/- by railway. Only good table Cshes like perches, per Ib, of all sizes, and white fins of Pristis and pomfrets, sea breams, mullets, hilsa etc., are des- Rhynchobntus fetch Rs. 2!- to Ks. 2,/4/- a lb. The patched to thcse places. T11e.e quantities might souods of Sciuena, Polynemus, Lutes, Sciae- be increased with better storage and transport noides, .Wuruenesox and Arius are detached from the facilities as indicated earlier. fishes,' immediately split, blood spots and blood During 1951-52 and until June, rgja, the Japanese vessels removed, washed in sea and fresh water trawler transported about 22,500 maunds of fish and dried for 48 hours. In the case of large blad- preserved in her 80-ton cold storage hold to Bombay. ders of Sciaena or l'olynemus, weights are placed over them to spread them evenly. ?he resulting (d) lManure fine isinglass has a yellowish-white, semi-transparent During $951-52 the State produced about hue and is sold at about Rs. 3/- per Ib. Average rate for fish (wholesale) 1950-51 & 1951-52 (All zones in maunds of 40 Ibs approximately)

I I

I. Pomfrets (white & black) 2. Seer, Hilsa, Surmai 3. Perches 4. Ghol & Dara (Sciaena and Polynentus) I;+ Mullets 6. Fresh prawns 7. Dried prawns 8. Cured fish A. g. Cured fish B. 10. Bomla (Harpodon) I I. Mixed-Dhoma etc. (Muraenesox) 12. Sharks 13. Rays 14. Fins (black and white) I c. Maws (class 1) air bladder

APPENDIX IT Bombay Mark@ for Saurashtra Fishes in xg51-gP

Beginning, end and In season out of season

Pomfrets Seer (Cybiuirt) Ghol, Dara Prawns dried (i) Fins Maws (sounds) Manure Cured Ghols etc. 4. (a) Bomla dried (b) Mullets etc. (c) Miscellaneous APPBNDIX I ti Statement of quantity of fish utilised for various methods of processing in Saurashtra in

Type of processing Quantity of fish processed No. I in mds.'

Bombay duck Eel Coilia 2.25 Sciaena oes} '27 Kilsa Perches Mullets fish Iced and chilled and cold Pomfret wi.76 r Storage. Hilsa Perches } 3"4 Jap. landings 2.4 I I Fresh fish All..kinds 5.5 i Manure, fish maws etc. Boiled and Sun-dried 13enetts spp. 0.1 / Most of the prawns pro- cessed are caught in the waters of Kutch. I I Total 1 955 000

'md. - 40 Ibs,