The project “Enhancing livelihoods and food security through fisheries with nearshore fish aggregating devices in the Pacific” or FishFAD project is designed to contribute to the safe, sustainable development of nearshore fish aggregating device (FAD) fisheries, supported by co-management approaches and the development of value-adding and alternative livelihoods to diversify income sources. Fisheries remain an important source of food, income, and cultural identity for Pacific Island nations. While the majority of fish consumed locally comes from coastal fisheries, production has not increased significantly in recent decades despite indications at the national level in many countries of increasing fishing pressure. The project covers the following countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The paper reviews problems of the post-harvest losses in cured fish. The importance of this commodity in the tropics and existing methods of its handling, processing, storage and distribution are discussed. Information on the present level of losses due to micro-organisms, insect infestation and physical breakage is provided. The loss causing factors are reviewed in detail and means of reduction of losses given. Finally the paper provides recommendations for improvement in handling, storing and distribution, as well as ideas on the preparation of quality standards of cured fish and how to approach the assessment of losses in cured fish.

The fish processing industry is still far from the levels of scientific and technological development that characterize other food processing oper ations. It has also been slow in finding uses for by-products and processing wastes, compared with the meat and poultry industries. The utilization of fisheries by-products or wastes constitutes an area in which the application of modern techniques could potentially improve profitability. At present, increased attention is being focused on the application of new biotechnological methods to operations related to the seafood industry, with the objective of increasing its general efficiency. Because fish processing operations are commonly carried out in the vicinity of the sea, most of the resulting fish wastes have been disposed of by returning them to it. Pollution control measures and a better understanding of the valuable composition of the products extracted from the sea are expected to encourage their recovery and the develop ment of new products from them. In the past, fisheries wastes and species not used for food have been generally utilized through techno logical processes with a low level of sophistication, such as those for the production of animal feed and fertilizer. Limited economic success has accompanied the application of physi cal and chemical processes for the recovery of non-utilized fisheries biomass and for the production of quality products from them.

Study relates to Orissa coast; with reference to the Chilka lagoon.