Study areas and study period
The study was conducted in 10 fish landing centers at 5 haor Upazila, viz., Karimganj, Tarail, Nikli, Kotiadi and Itna of Kishoreganj district and 10 floodplain-based culture fisheries projects at Daudkandi Upazila of Cumilla district for a period of 16 months from July, 2018 to October, 2019.
Respondent’s selection and questionnaires preparation
A total of 9 structured questionnaire survey forms were developed through rigorous process of drafting, editing, fine-tuning, expert-sharing, field testing and final field validation. Among them, 5 survey forms were prepared for haor-based interventions, viz., for i) fisherman, ii) aratdar, iii) paiker, iv) retailer and v) ice factory owner. In case of DFPFs on the other hand, four survey forms were prepared, for e.g., i) project directors (shareholder/lease owner) ii) fishers’ family iii) fish handlers and iv) fish traders. Secondary data were collected from Upazila Fisheries Office, District Fisheries Office, books, journals, reports and NGOs.
Identification of IHs and PHs groups
A sensory based Fish Freshness Assessment Tool (Nowsad et al. 2015) was used, where the fishes at different stages of distribution under a distinct stakeholder if found with defect points > 3.2 was taken as PHs and the same when found <3.2 was taken as IHs. The system was originally developed Howgate et al. (1992) by the Torry Research Station, UK, and updated by several scientists (Connell, 1990; Sakaguchi, 1994). Sensory indicators have been calibrated according to the physical environments of local fish species (Nowsad, 2004). The IHs and PHs were selected by analyzing the qualities of fishes belong to the stakeholders from harvest to retail distribution. The loss evaluation study specified that fish moderately lose quality throughout handling by the fishermen, aratdar, project directors (shareholder/lease owner), fishers’ family and fish handlers. On the other hand, the quality of fish was reduced more frequently in paiker, retailer and fish traders. Maximum quality losses were introduced at the aratder (haor) and fish traders (floodplain).
Technique of data collection
A total of 270 respondents were surveyed, of which 150 were from Kishoreganj haor (60 IHs and 90 PHs) and 120 from DFPF (70 IHs and 50 PHs). The study was based on collection of primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected by questionnaire interview with stakeholders, FGD with intermediaries and cross-check interview with key informants (KII).
Data analysis
All the collected information was accumulated and analyzed by Microsoft Excel 2016 and then presented in textual, tabular and graphical forms. Paired samples ttest was done to know the significant differences (p<0.05) between IHs and PHs by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS/PC; Version 20.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago).