Background:
Substantial quantity of fish is lost due to post harvest spoilage, primarily due to non-availably of cold chain. This accounts to about 25% of fish catch worth more than 15,000 crores. Fresh fish sold in retail markets at room temperature undergoes biochemical and microbial changes leading to compromised fish quality, reduced price and issues related to food safety. Fish vendors in Mumbai use bamboo or plastic baskets to display fish meant for sale, usually uncovered, exposing fresh fish to contamination from dust, aerosols and insects. The highly perishable nature of fish poses a challenge of maintaining the quality of fresh fish sold in retail markets. Icing is the preferred method of storing fresh fish. However, most fish sellers carry limited quantities of fish for sale owing to lack of own transportation facilities. The use of ice increases the bulk of fish and hence is generally avoided. Even when ice is used, a very limited quantity is used for a short period of time as ice is not generally available in the vicinity of fish market for replenishment. Further, the prohibitive cost of ice prevents its use by retail fish vendors who are engaged in day-to-day fish sale and lack facilities to cold store the left over fish.:
Technology Details:
One of the key interventions that can remediate the loss of quality due to spoilage and unhygienic storage conditions is through providing a cost effective cooling solution to fish vendors. Solar cooling is one such powerful solution, which is not only environment friendly but also economical to implement and operate. This is also a practical approach in tropical countries like India, where abundant day light is available for almost two-thirds of a year. Solar cooling essentially involves capturing solar energy using photovoltaic cells and converting it into electrical energy to run a cooler. A solar panel is used to capture and generate electric energy from sunlight, which can be stored in a battery so that the stored energy can be used during dark hours. This concept of solar-powered cooling facilities can be very useful to retail fish vendors to store their fish in chilled and hygienic conditions.