Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
53
Fish chain
stage
Cause of Losses Main type
of losses
Geographical
areas
Losses reduction strategy
Transport
and
distribution
 Delays in packing, loading,
transport causing spoilage;
 Careless handling resulting in
physical damage and
fragmentation of smoked fish;
 Poor road and transport
logistics;
 Inappropriate vehicles
 Remoteness of fishing villages
Physical,
Quality
 Developing
countries,
especially in
Sub-Saharan
Africa
 Use of ice/insulated boxed for fresh
fish;
 Appropriate packaging such as rigid
containers;
 Proper packing before transport
Storage  Absence of or poor storage
facilities/cold rooms leading to
spoilage;
 Insect infestation;
 Mould growth
Physical,
Quality,
Nutritional
 Developing
countries,
especially in
Sub-Saharan
Africa.
 Properly designed stores
 Good hygienic practice
 Pest prevention
 Store management and product
rotation (first in first out)
Marketing  Oversupply of fish
 Lack of buyers
 Insect infestation
 Under-utilization of some
species for fish meal;
 Mismanagement of fish products
imports.
Quality,
Economic
 Worldwide
 Developing
countries,
especially in
Sub-Saharan
Africa (insect
infestation).
 Proper market infrastructure and
management
 Implementation of food safety
legislation
 Use of ice/insulated boxes or other
preservation techniques;
 Exploiting the economic potential of
sustainable by-catch;
 Promotion of value added products
from low value fish species;
 Raising public awareness on fish
quality and food waste;
 Access to market information;
 Access to more rewarding markets;
 Local and better data collection for
just-in-time production and marketing.
Fisheries in the OIC Countries
The study covers 57 countries ranging from Guyana in the west to Indonesia in the east. As a
first step, the relative importance of the fisheries sector in each country was assessed. This
was based on the following:
a) Gross volume of fish landed
b) Economic importance: This was assessed on the fish produced per head of population.
c) Importance to food security: This was assessed on the basis of fish consumption per head
of population per year.
Using the above, the importance of fisheries was ranked as follows:
a) Very important: The country is a leading producer or the sector is a major contributor to
livelihoods
b) Important: The sector plays a significant role in the country’s economy or livelihoods.
c) Neither important nor unimportant: the sector exists but is not leading economic or social
driver.
d) Fairly unimportant: Fisheries and aquaculture is comparatively marginal in the national
economy
e) Completely unimportant: The fisheries sector is virtually non-existent.
The purpose is to undertake a rapid segmentation to focus further study. This is shown
graphically i below.