Socio‐economic Analysis of Fishermen at Coastal Fishery Management in Maharashtra, India B. R. Chavan * , A. Yakupitiyage ** and S. Kumar *** Abstract Socio‐economic study was conducted in the target fishermen community in Maharashtra, India. The survey revealed that lack of proper drying technology was reflected by weighted mean index. Fishermen strongly felt the need for improvement in the current drying practice as there is high demand for the dried fish products. It was found that the dried Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from local market showed highest moisture, salt and water activity in the samples. The variation of biochemical contents and bacterial counts increased significantly (P<0.05) after 43 days of storage period. The fishermen are keen to introduce solar‐biomass hybrid dryer, which will improve dry fish quality. 1.0 Introduction Due to increase in world population, there is tremendous demand for food including fish; fish plays an important role in human nutrition in Asian countries, supplying 30‐40 per cent of animal protein intake. To meet this great demand recently the world fish production has peaked at around 130 million tons. However, only 60 per cent of total fish production is used for human consumption and a significant amount of fish are not fit for human consumption due to the loss of quality during handling and processing (Chandrapal 2005). The average consumption of fish stands around three to five kg of fish in urban area and less than one kg in rural area (Upasani et al. 2002). Therefore, in order to prevent potential future shortages in the fish and fish product supply, the maximum utilisation of the existing catch has to be assured by adopting an efficient processing and preservation techniques. * Associate Research Officer, College of Fisheries (Dr. BSKKV), Ratnagiri, (MS), India. Corresponding Email: brc15672@yahoo.co.in ** Associate Professor and Coordinator, AARM, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Pathumthani-12120, Thailand. *** Professor and Dean, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Pathumthani‐12120, Thailand. Asia‐Pacific Journal of Rural Development Vol. XIX, No.2, December 2009 31