A Survey on Social Economic Status, Fish Processing and Packaging Methods of Female Fish Processors in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria

The study was aimed at determining the social economic status, fish processing and packaging methods of female fish processors in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. One hundred and eighty well structured questionnaires were administered to the women fisher folks in three fish processing village (Ekehuan, Ikoro and Gelegele) reported to have fishing activities. The result showed that fish processors in the villages were dominated with married women (66.7%); 55.0% of these women have little formal education while those with no formal education were 26.7%. It was further revealed that 41.7% of the fish processors had been in the business for five to ten years. 90.2% of the women used cutting and staking as a method of processing while all the women agreed that they preserved their fish by re-smoking them.88.3% had lack of storage facilities as their major problem. The study also revealed that their major source of capital was from their spouse (60.0%), the major fish spp smoked was Clarias gariepinus (80.0%), source of water were from river and bore hole while majority packaged their smoked fish in basket with paper (56.7%).