International Journal of Fishery Science and Aquaculture ISSN 9521-4569  Vol. 3 (1),  pp. 036-039,  January , 2016.  © Advanced Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

 Determinant factors for wasted fish during harvesting at Amerti and Fichawa reservoirs Oromia/Ethiopia

Demeke Teklu

Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Zeway Fishery Resources Research Center

P.O .Box  229.Zeway/Ethiopia. Mob: +251913038068,                                                                                                            

Email: [email protected] 

Accepted 18 August, 2014

Abstract 

Ethiopia lost 10,000 tons of fish per annum among 28,000 tons of production. This research aims to identify the major factors that affect the overall fish losses at Finchawa and Amerti reservoirs during harvest. The research was conducted by adopting Informal Fish Loss Assessment Method (IFLAM), Load Tracking (LT) and the Questionnaire Loss Assessment Method (QLAM). The study was conducted between August 2011 and July 2012. The result indicated that from the total annual 98, 784kg tilapia catch the post-harvest loss constitutes 6,816Kg (6.9 %) of which 2,076Kg of tilapia due to size discrimination, 1,323Kg due to operational loss, 648kg due to market access and 2,497Kg due to spoilage was discarded. The total carp species catch were 31,317Kg. Among the total carp species catch, the post-harvest loss constitutes 3,539 Kg(11.3%), of which 560Kg of carp species due to size discrimination, 2,143Kg due to species preference and 447Kg  due to spoilage  was discarded. The determinant factors for fish post-harvest losses include less market access, size and species preference, inadequate infrastructure for fish handling, processing, storage and transportation and distance from the central market. In tropic climates fish will become unfit for human consumption within 12 hours of capture unless it is subjected to some forms of cold preservation or further processing; Unfortunately, it was not applicable for it is expensive and no electric at fishing area, thus, from this paper it is possible to conclude that fish post-harvest technology such as, drying, retaining cage, smoking, fish meal and fertilizer, processing table, solar ice making are very important in reducing loss. Therefore, it is very important to further adopt, verify, popularize and disseminate these technologies for end users to secure food and nutrition.

Key Words: discrimination, factors, loss, preference, size, spoilage.