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Figure 5: Catch analysis for 3 Sardinella species FAO, 2004
The global fleet of ‘super trawlers’ can therefore not afford to stop fishing, so decrease in fish stock in Peru; one area of the world where small-pelagics have been abundant, is likely to
lead to increased fishing pressure in other parts of the world, such as West Africa.
4.2 Post Harvest Processing
In the West African Region, fish is processed mostly through smoking, salting, cannery and frying. Most of the processing activities are highly dominated by women especially the
informal ones. Industrial canneries are more dominated by men.
In Gambia Sardinellas, shad and other types of fish are sold fresh or smoked in their markets. Women are the predominant dealers and marketers of fresh and cured fish to domestic urban
markets near landing sites, while long-distance trade involving relatively capital-intensive techniques and higher profit margins, including the export of frozen and smokeddried fish
products, and is carried out mainly by men. 80 per cent of fish processors and 50 per cent of small-scale fish traders are women in The Gambia WTO, 2014. In Ghana about 80 of fish
landed is smoked and the rest is either fried, sun dried or fermented Mensah et al.
Small pelagics represent more than 75 percent of the artisanal catches and 55 percent of total marine catches. In the industrial fisheries these species are either frozen or canned, while in
the artisanal fisheries they are mostly cured, for domestic consumption and for export. Owing to their low value, small pelagics are seldom refrigerated. Common processed products found
in local markets were ‘Kethiak’ roasted, salted and dried
Ethmalosa
or
Sardinella
, ‘tambadiang’ and ‘yauss’ whole dried
Ethmalosa
. However, in recent years, a semi-finished product made from minced fillets of small pelagics appeared in the fish utilization systems in
Senegal and is increasing in importance in local beaches and markets. The product is also made in markets of Nouakchott Mauritania and recently 2002 also appeared in landing
sites in Gambia. A variety of minced fish end-products have been reported, including fish
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balls, sandwich of cooked minced sardinella, cakes, attractive presentations for salad and for main dish, stuffed eggs and wrapped eggs. They are consumed within households, in
restaurants and chop bars or within the premises of schools and colleges Diei-Ouadi, 2005.
The FAO working group on small-pelagics off Northwest Africa described that in 2010 four fishmeal factories started operating in Nouadhibou Mauritania. Originally, these factories
were meant to use poor quality fish and discards, and also ‘bonga’ that is fished near Nouadhibou. In practice, the FAO reports that these two sources of raw material are not
sufficient to keep all fishmeal plants in operation. The new fishmeal plants therefore depend more and more on sardinella for raw material. All the flat sardinellas are thus processed into
fishmeal as is the round sardinella of small size or poor quality.
4.3 Post Harvest Loss Issues
