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Abstract            Volume:4  Issue-5  Year-2016         Original Research Articles


Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215
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Socio-Economic Status of the Fish Curers of the Dry Fish Industry of the Coastal Areas of West Bengal, India
Chanchal Samanta1*, Utpal Bhaumik2 and Bidhan Chandra Patra1
1Department of Aquaculture Management and Technology, Vidyasagar University, Medinipore- 721102, West Bengal, India
2Former Divisional Head, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata- 700120, West Bengal, India
*Corresponding author
Abstract:

Fish curing is an important and age old method of fish preservation in India and major part of marine landings is still converted into cure products mostly dry fish. Dried fish  continues to enjoy a steady market West Bengal, India, particularly among the low income group on account of its low cost of production, extended shelf life at ambient temperature, convenience of packaging and transport. The dry fish curers are, by and large, economically backward and socially at lower strata of the Society, despite of their unstained efforts, dexterity and skill; their earnings on the whole are at still at lower level when compared with other industrial and professional workers. An investigation was carried out to unravel the socio-economic status of the fish curers involved in the dry fish industry of the coastal belts of West Bengal, India. Generally for undertaking fish drying activity, the fish curers procure raw materials varying between 10,000 and 70,000 kg/annum. The end product (dry fish) turns approximately to 1/3 to 1/4 from the raw material (fresh fish). The study indicates that sizeable active fish curers belong to the age group of 35-55 years. The curers  of  the  sample  are  mostly  Jalia  Kaibarttas  by  caste  which belongs  to Scheduled Cast (SC) community.  It reveals that the primary occupation of most of the fish curers is fish preservation. During drying season, fish curers earn between INR 6000 to 8000 per month on an average. On  account  of  their  poverty  and  social  status,  they  are  forced  to  depend  on middlemen. In order to overcome this, however, communities must be empowered to make decisions locally and to take actions that meet local opportunities and problems.

Keywords: Dry fish,Socio-economic, Social milieu,Middle man,Raw material,End   product
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How to cite this article:

Chanchal Samanta, Utpal Bhaumik and Bidhan Chandra Patra. 2016. Socio-Economic Status of the Fish Curers of the Dry Fish Industry of the Coastal Areas of West Bengal, India.Int.J.Curr.Res.Aca.Rev. 4(5): 84-100
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.20546/ijcrar.2016.405.009
Copyright: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.