Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Assessing fish consumption and its determinants across Andhra Pradesh, India

Volume 63 Issue 2

Shyam S. Salim, S. S. Raju, N. R. Athira and Phalguni Pattnaik

10.6024/jmbai.2021.63.2.2273-03

Abstract

The current paper endeavours to evaluate the spatial pattern of fish utilization and its attributes in Andhra Pradesh. The study was directed over the two distinctive regions viz., urban coastal (Visakhapatnam), rural coastal (Vizianagaram), and non-coastal urban (Kurnool) and non-coastal rural (Anantapur) districts. A total of 1440 fish consumption households was assessed for the study. The consumption profile revealed that 88 per cent of the respondents belong to the middle age group (20-50 years) with higher secondary education (29 per cent). More than 60 per cent devour fish consistently. The outcome revealed that fish consumption over the years improved by virtue of better fish accessibility, availability, and affordability. The fish accessibility was found to be within 1-2 km, as believed by 56 per cent of the buyers. The consumption traits indicated that seer fish was the most favoured species, followed by pomfrets and shrimps. The constraints in fish consumption as perceived by the buyer’s included the absence of fresh and preferred fish, exorbitant price, wide fluctuations in price, unpredictable supply and absence/ lack of hygiene in marketing infrastructure. Various statistical and econometric tools included conjoint analysis, preference assessment index, and discriminant analysis were utilized for analyzing the information

Keywords

Consumption, preferred species, discriminant analysis

Date : 10-10-2021