Trickier than it first appears: investigating opportunities to increase small fish production and availability from culture-based inland fisheries in West Bengal, India

In many parts of the Global South, small fish represent an important food, combining multiple essential nutrients with availability at low cost and in small quantities. This can make them of particular importance to poorer people. Farmer-managed culture-based fisheries in West Bengal, India, can provide important local sources of small fish of the type that surveys revealed were preferred by poorer households. The study sought to assess the potential to increase farmer incomes and small-fish production from these fisheries. During the dry season, the ponds were stocked with a mixture of fish and prawns, often including the piscivorous Bhetki ( Lates calcarifer ) popular in urban markets. These are harvested along with small wild fish that have entered the ponds as they were filled. A collaborative experiment with small-scale farmers assessed the effect of stocking/not stocking bhetki and alternative feeding practices on farmer income and small fish production and availability. Together, not stocking bhetki and the alternative feeding practices could increase average yields and incomes by about 15% and 11% respectively. Much of this additional yield was of small fish resulting from lower predation rates. Despite the clear financial benefits, farmers indicated that they were unlikely to stop stocking bhetki and therefore not increase small fish availability. While appearing counterintuitive, the reasons given for this were the relative simplicity of selling bhetki to traders compared with the challenges of selling small fish to poor people. These challenges have important implications for efforts to increase the availability of small fish to poor consumers.