Survey of fish consumption pattern in households of Shivamogga, Karnataka

The study was conducted to gather information on the fish consumption pattern among randomly selected households using a distinct questionnaire. The study revealed that much of the fish consuming communities prefer to consume fish regularly in their diet. Consumers commonly choice to consume fishes like Catla, Common carp, Rohu among the freshwater fish and Sardine, Mackeral and Prawns among sea food. The observation indicated that most of the respondents consume fish found to be once in a week compare to daily user. Survey showed that the range of fish species preferred (cost/ price of fish) mainly focused on the house hold income.


Introduction
Dietary habits of population in different regions of the world have been determined mainly by the availability of the local food and practices. Since, all foods are not of the same quality from a nutritional point of view, man's ability to meet his nutritional needs and maintain good health depends upon the type and quality of food stuffs available. Fish is a kind of food of excellent nutritional value and it makes a very signifi cant contribution to the diet of many fi sh consuming communities in both developed and developing world. Flesh of fi sh is generally called as white meat and has agreeable taste and fl avor. As far as food value is concerned, fi sh is more superior, having less amount of fat and more or equal protein as compared to other animal fl esh consumed by human beings [1]. Fish meat and oil contains Vitamins, Omega 3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) and are helpful in controlling the eye and cardiovascular diseases [2]. Recent research has pointed out that the fi sh meat has anti-cancerous effects, minimized risk of heart diseases and as a result enhanced life expectancy.
Edible tissue of fi sh is appreciably greater than that of mutton, beef or poultry in nutritional aspects. The lean meat percentage in fi sh (80.9%) is greater than chicken, broiler (64.7%) and beef (choice grade, 51%) [3]. The per capita fi sh consumption of 25.9 kg/year and 9.3 kg/year has been recorded in developed and developing countries respectively. It has been recorded that, the world average per capita fi sh consumption is 19 kg/year (Japan 86 kg/year, Mayanmar 13 kg/year, Srilanka 11 kg/year and Bangladesh 10 kg/year). The consumption of fi sh in India is increasing from 8.8 kg (1988) to 9 kg (2000) [4]. India position in per capita fi sh consumption is lowest position i.e., about 136 th , it may be due to the fact that fi sh is eaten mostly by people residing rather in coastal areas. Among the states in India, highest in Lakshadweep, Andaman Island, Goa and Kerala (32 kg/year). States like Gujarat and Rajasthan fi sh is rarely consumed. It is necessary to develop data bases on different aspects of fi sheries regarding productionconsumption patterns for formulating strategies for investment and development in the fi sheries sector. According to [5], the obtained fi ndings, both the UK and Singapore are potential targets for fi shery export countries. However, the promotion strategies need to differ because food consumption is driven by different factors in each country. Hence, an attempt was made to collect information and data regarding the consumption pattern and frequency of fi sh consumption after making a random sampling survey among the households in the Shimoga city of Karnataka state.

Materials and methods
The study was carried out in certain areas of Shivamogga

Abstract
The study was conducted to gather information on the fi sh consumption pattern among randomly selected households using a distinct questionnaire. The study revealed that much of the fi sh consuming communities prefer to consume fi sh regularly in their diet. Consumers commonly choice to consume fi shes like Catla, Common carp, Rohu among the freshwater fi sh and Sardine, Mackeral and Prawns among sea food. The observation indicated that most of the respondents consume fi sh found to be once in a week compare to daily user. Survey showed that the range of fi sh species preferred (cost/ price of fi sh) mainly focused on the house hold income. city by random sampling technique. The study area is located on the bank of river Tunga of Western Ghats. About one hundred and two numbers of households consuming fi sh were interviewed. The survey was conducted by means of sample census using a pretested semi-structure questionnaire, which is designed to collect suffi cient reliable data includes different variables regarding frequency and consumption pattern of fi sh. The food frequency questionnaire has been dominant method for assessing food consumption in population studies [6].

Result
The present survey reveals that fi sh was an appreciated food by the local people. It was observed that 29.42% of people prefer fi sh as their fi rst choice, 47.05% of people prefer fi sh as their second choice and 23.53% of people prefer fi sh as their third choice as per as consumption preference over poultry meat, mutton and beef. It was observed that majority of the respondents consume fresh water fi shes (60.78%) followed by marine fi shes and prawns (39.22%) ( Table 1) (Table 1). Survey showed that the range of fi sh species preferred (cost/ price of fi sh) mainly focused on the house hold income and similar opinion was expressed by other workers [7,8].
The frequency of consumption of fi sh food by the consumers, revealed that once in a week (30.39%), once a fortnight, (29.42 %), once a month (18.62%), occasional (14.70%) and only (6.87%) consumed fi sh on daily basis. Another important factor regarding freshness of the fi sh considered by the consumers showed that about 61.76% prefer fresh fi sh, 20.59% prefer frozen fi sh and about 17.65% prefer dry fi sh in their diet (Table 1).

Discussion
Analysis and interpretation of consumer perception further revealed that there is considerable demand for fi sh and there was immense scope for supply of fresh, dry as well as frozen Lower income group having much purchase power towards to low cost fi sh. Similar studies are carried out by [9]. Majority of respondents (72.1%) had shown their fi rst preference for Rohu, second preference for Catla (67.3%), and third preference for Mrigal (35.5%). Similar fi ndings were also reported by [10], where consumers of India and Bangladesh ranked Rohu, Catla and Mrigal as fi rst, second and third preferred species respectively [11]. Study conducted in Karnataka also found that Rohu and Catla was the most preferred species and Mrigal was the least preferred species in both rural and urban areas.
Consumers commonly choice to consume fi shes like Catla, Common carp, Rohu among the freshwater fi sh and Sardine, Mackeral and Prawns among sea food. The observation indicated that most of the respondents consume fi sh found to be once in a week compared to daily user. Survey showed that the range of fi sh species preferred (cost/ price of fi sh) mainly focused on the house hold income. Analysis and interpretation of consumer perception further revealed that there is considerable demand for fi sh and there was immense scope for supply of fresh, dry as well as frozen fi sh.