The study was presented at a two-day international workshop on Marine Fisheries Value Chain in the Bay of Bengal Region being held in Puducherry on Thursday. It revealed that post-harvest fish loss across Asia is emerging as a silent crisis, with 20 to 60 per cent of total catch being lost along the aquatic food value chain, severely impacting food security and fisher incomes. The study, conducted during 2025–26 across 11 Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and others, highlighted systemic inefficiencies in the marine fisheries sector.
According to the findings, 43.5 per cent of losses occur at landing sites due to inadequate icing facilities and high ambient temperatures. “Infrastructure and institutional deficits such as lack of cold storage facilities at landing centres, insufficient ice plants, poorly integrated cold-chain logistics, and weak processing and packaging are some of the critical gaps which were identified in the Bay of Bengal region”, said BOBP-IGO Director P Krishnan.
The global workshop is being organised jointly by the BOBP-IGO and Govt. of Puducherry in association with FAO, ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, National Fisheries Development Board and Environmental Defense India Foundation.
Referring to the stark imbalance in Indian marine sector, In India, Krishnan said: “While public investment in production and extraction remains high, post-harvest management is categorised as very low, and market access systems remain weak. The neglect of mid-chain components and inadequate private investment further exacerbate losses”.
The study called for a comprehensive value-chain upgrade to transform fishers from “price-takers” to “value-makers”. Key recommendations included fleet management planning, modernization of public infrastructure particularly cold storage and ice production at landing centres, mandatory traceability system, ono-board processing and preservation technologies, and integration between fishing vessels and processing industries.