Factors Affecting Fish Consumption of Traditional Subsistence Fishers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Subsistence inland fisheries are underreported in developing countries like Pakistan. This study attempted to find out fish consumption determinants of traditional subsistence fishers in Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province of Pakistan. Data were collected between March and December 2019 through 36 predetermined questions applied to 286 randomly selected households. The data were analyzed through multiple linear regression model. Study found that average fish consumption of the sample households was 3.3 kg per capita per annum, which is higher than Pakistan’s national average of 1.9 kg per capita per annum. The most viable reasons of fish consumption among the sample households were that most of them were; subsistence fishers, lived closed to water bodies and had easy access to fishing grounds. Majority of them consumed fish once a month in summer season but consumption increased in winter season. The regression results indicated that fish price, proximity to rivers, and family size have negative, whereas number of fishing equipment’s, education and family income have positive effect on fish consumption. Actions are needed to improve fish production in local rivers through hatcheries development and aquaculture encouragement, so that fish meat become affordable to other areas located far away from water bodies.