The "silver seed" in this publication's title refers to the very young fish (fry, or hatchlings, and fingerlings) from which pond holders raise fish for sale or consumption. The research on which this book is based was part of a project funded by Britain's Overseas Development Administration (ODA) and carried out by the government of Bangladesh in the northwestern part of the country. The project was aimed at promoting fish pond culture in order to increase the protein in local diets, and thus to improve the situation of the poor as well as the rural economy.

By writing this book, the authors hoped to make a practical contribution as well as a contribution to methodology. The practical contribution was to evaluate the assumptions on which the project was based. The methodological contribution concerns "the ways in which the analysis of how market behaviour across wide physical space contributes to our understanding of evolving structure and culture." (p.4) For the ongoing discussion of indigenous knowledge, the methodological issue is more important by far.

The authors analyze the aquaculture market in terms of the network of actors involved in this trade: owners of hatcheries, fingerling growers, owners of ponds, fishermen, netmakers, and, above all, traders. They illustrate their analyses with a number of individual cases which illuminate the roles of the different types of traders in fry, fingerlings, and fish for consumption.

The system the authors describe is in transition. Fishponds have been common as long as people can remember, but the 'seed' has traditionally been collected from the rivers. Hatcheries are now developing, but they do not yet function technically as prescribed in the international models. This is due not so much to a lack of knowledge, as to the fact that fish culture at present is only part of the household economy, and market forces are not yet in full operation.

The silver seed goes through many hands before it reaches the final ponds. The small traders are the distributors. They transport the fish by hand, travelling by train, bicycle or on foot. Wholesale traders are stationary, staying in markets or railway stations.

Fish, especially hatchlings and fingerlings, are a vulnerable commodity. Most of the risk of loss is absorbed by the travelling traders. Among the actors in the system, they are also the poorest despite the fact that their clients consider them to have expert knowledge. It certainly requires skills to keep the fingerlings alive and in good condition. Moreover, the traders have better insight into what is going on in the business than the pond holders, for whom aquaculture is only a secondary occupation. Some of the pond owners produce not for the market, but for family consumption and social purposes.

The authors draw our attention to the fact that the actors in this network are related through no other ties than the network itself. They do not belong to the same local community, are not linked by ties of kinship, and do not even share the same religion. The network has its own culture: unwritten rules for behaviour, a great deal of mutual trust, and no sanctions other than the disapproval of the others.

Despite the general tendency to demand that research have practical implications, I think that the clear description of a specific market culture is the major contribution of this book. It also casts light on the human ability to make use of opportunities that a situation offers, technically as well as socially. This is an ability often overlooked by interventionists.

The book's last chapter is devoted to application. It is not the most convincing one because it is limited to the project's attempts to use the travelling traders as extension agents. This is a clear example of the influence of research results on a project's approach. It was found that the trader's knowledge was poor according to 'modern' standards, and the project gave them some training. The first results looked positive. But we would like to know more about this aspect of the project. Maybe it is still too early to tell how these extension workers will function over a longer period.

The traders' knowledge can rightfully be considered indigenous knowledge. It is bound to the system of fish culture as it functions at this moment. On what knowledge is the system based? How is it evolving? What are the various actors' shares in this process? Hopefully the authors will be in a position to do some follow-up research on the interaction between this indigenous knowledge system and the scientific or academic knowledge represented in the project. To what extent is the indigenous knowledge indeed something that can be incorporated into the scientific knowledge, and visa versa, as so many readers of the IK Monitor claim or hope is possible?

If a second edition is being considered, the publisher would be wise to have the entire book edited again, especially with an eye to eliminating unnecessary repetition.

Adri Kater
Anthropologist
Heidestein 2
3971 ND Driebergen
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-343-516 179.
E-mail: a.kater@tip.nl

Book reviewed

Lewis, David J., Geoffrey D. Wood and Rick Gregory (1996) Trading the silver seed. Local knowledge and market moralities in aquaculture development. 195 pp. ISBN 1-85339-342-8. £ 16.95.

Published by Intermediate Technology Publications, 103-105 Southampton Row, London WCIB 4HH, UK, in association with University Press Limited, 114 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.