This is the story of how dried fish are bought, processed and then sold to retailers at Karwar???s Sunday Bazaar, who further clean and dry the fish before it is out in the retail market, finding its way to towns and villages along the coast.

Not only do dried fish provide for the nutritional security of the local people who live here but the entire supply chain is handled almost exclusively by women.

The land available to these small artisanal processors has been shrinking over the years as land for private resorts and city beautification activities mushroom along the coast. Year after year, the number of processors has been gradually decreasing.

In spite of these challenges, this livelihood and food cycle will hopefully continue as it has been for decades.

Prashanth, a wanderer of the coasts and the Western Ghats, studies the lives of coastal people through rivers, estuaries and the sea. He is based in Honnavara in Karnataka.