38 March 2009 area from April to June. Most of the poorer catchers have no other livelihood alternatives. Catching of postlarvae is a substantial part of their income. Fishermen operate their nets twice a day during high tide and average 5.33 hours a day fishing (Ahmed et al. 2005). Postlarvae catchers contribute substantially to the economy and to a part of the foreign exchange earnings, though they benefit little. Postlarvae traders. A number of individuals are engaged in trading postlarvae in the Faltita market of the Fakirhat area, which is particularly well known for this activity during April to June. Trading is a seasonal business and traders are involved in prawn trading, fish trading and prawn farming the rest of the time. Postlarvae traders are mostly from the lower middle class, and postlarvae trading is a substantial part of their income. With a few exceptions, the catchers never directly communicate with prawn farmers, market communication normally being made through intermediaries and traders. Postlarvae traders possess capital and have the means to control fishermen, suppliers and middlemen. They are reported to have improved their social and economic conditions. Snail collectors. The use of snail meat as prawn feed is widespread in the study area and snail populations are reported to have declined significantly. Snails are now harvested from seasonal floodplains and river areas in neighboring districts. A wide variety of people, including women and children are involved in snail harvesting during the monsoon from June to October. On average, snail collectors are engaged for 5.4 hours daily in their task (Ahmed 2001). The snails are collected using a triangular concave mesh netting attached to a short pole. The nets are used to scoop the snails off the surface. The net is operated with a boat by a single harvester. Overall, the supply of snails has generated a number of employment opportunities in catching, processing, transport and trading activities. Snail traders. Snail trading has become a popular business in the study area. A large number of rural poor are involved in snail trading. Their job is to collect snails from the neighboring districts and sell them to the prawn farmers. Boats, trucks and trailers are used to transport snails to prawn farming areas. Snail traders employ women and children as day laborers for processing snails. Processing involves breaking the operculum and removing the meat from the shells with a small curved knife. The traders sometimes sell their snail meat on credit to farmers. On the other hand, rich farmers may advance money to snail traders to try and ensure a regular supply of snail meat, though supplies of snail meat are irregular as the catch depends on weather conditions and snail production level. Prawn traders. A number of persons are engaged in prawn trading in the Faltita market during the season from November to January. Their premises are modest; they might have a small rented tin shed warehouse/office equipped with a portable ice chest in a market. Their role is to collect prawns from farmers and supply them to processing and export companies within 1-2 days of purchase. Finally, companies export frozen headless prawns to international markets through the port of Mongla in the Bagerhat district. Prawn A child with export quality prawn. A woman with harvested prawn. of age in prawn farming families are directly engaged in feeding, fertilizing and harvesting. Daily harvest of fish for family consumption is done by women with the help of children. Children are also involved in catching and trading postlarvae, harvesting and processing nails and trading prawns. Though primary education is being made compulsory in Bangladesh so that every child can become literate, the scope for taking advantage of universal primary education often could not be utilized because of poor household economic conditions, children contributing household labor or having outside employment, or simply that the costs of schooling are too high. Postlarvae catchers. In Southwest Bangladesh, the prawn culture industry depends almost entirely on wild postlarvae, because hatchery production is limited and farmers consider them to be of lower quality. A large number of fishermen are known to be engaged in catching postlarvae in the coastal (Continued on page 40)
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