Supply Chain from Fishermen to Wholesaler

As fish is a highly perishable commodity, its supply chain needs to be extremely efficient to maintain the required quality of products. With the increasing income levels, consumer consciousness in India is also improving. In this context, the current chapter discusses the supply chain of the fisheries sector starting from the producer to the wholesaler. Despite traditionally being a marine fish-producing economy, India is one of the few countries that has also substantially exploited its inland fisheries potential (Sugunan in Fisheries management of small water bodies in seven countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. FAO Fisheries Circular, No. 933 FIRI/C933, Food and Agriculture Organisation of The United Nations, 1997). As marine fish needs to be caught from the sea with fishermen staying in fishing vessels for several days, its supply chain differs from freshwater fish. To comprehensively understand the supply chains of these two products, it is necessary to study them separately by visiting the respective locales. This was accomplished by visiting Kerala, Karnataka as well as Assam (for freshwater fish). This chapter begins with the discussion of the marine fisheries supply chain, identifying the core and peripheral activities and respective players, which brings to light certain interesting features concerning the role of auctioneer, boat owner, and financier. The value share of each of these players is also estimated based on field survey data. Subsequently, we highlight the supply chain of freshwater fish using information from the state of Assam, concentrating on the fish both that are produced within the state and those exported from other parts of the country to Assam.