Sea food industry is a potential foreign exchange earner
and source of livelihood for the vast majority of population in the coastal belt of India. Rapid economic growth coupled with expansion of the domestic retail sector in lndia created a huge demand for fish and a sharp rise in the prices of fresh as well as processed fish products.
Target fishing and overfishing of high valued fishes beyond their sustainable levels resulted in dwindling catches and lower returns for many of the mechanized fishing units. The by catch once discarded by the trawlers are now brought to the shore and sold to increase the revenue and sustain the fishing operations. The by catch constitute low value food fish and trash fish with non-edible uses as fish meal,
poultry feed and fertilizers. There exist immense potential for the development of value added products both for human consumption and non edible uses through the effective utilization of bycatch and discards. The paper presents a macro level analysis of price trends, marketing channels and the pattern of utilization of low value food
fish and trash fish in India. The potential problems in the handling and marketing and the prospects for utilization both for edible and non-edible purposes are also discussed.