Socio-economic Analysis of Fishermen at Coastal Fishery Management in Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Socio‐economic study was conducted in the target fishermen community in Maharashtra, India. The survey revealed that lack of proper drying technology was reflected by weighted mean index. Fishermen strongly felt the need for improvement in the current drying practice as there is high demand for the dried fish products. It was found that the dried Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from local market showed highest moisture, salt and water activity in the samples. The variation of biochemical contents and bacterial counts increased significantly (P<0.05) after 43 days of storage period. The fishermen are keen to introduce solar‐biomass hybrid dryer, which will improve dry fish quality.