SEA2VALUE: EMPOWERING TOK BALI COMMUNITIES THROUGH FISH-BASED PRODUCT INNOVATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJEMP.935036Keywords:
Community Economy, Community Project, Fish Lunak, Fish Paste, Product Innovation, Single Mothers, Social BusinessAbstract
Fish-based product innovation has significant potential to strengthen rural coastal economies by transforming local marine resources into value-added products. The Fish Lunak and Fish Paste Project in Tok Bali, Pasir Puteh, Kelantan, is a community-based social business initiative designed to support local livelihoods through downstream seafood processing. Although previous studies have examined fisheries livelihoods and community entrepreneurship, limited research has explored how fish-based social business initiatives may support income opportunities, entrepreneurial capacity and perceived wellbeing among single mothers in coastal communities. This context-specific qualitative case study explored the project’s livelihood potential, implementation challenges and perceived sustainability through semi-structured interviews with five single mothers, supported by field observation and document review. The data were analysed thematically, with Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory guiding the interpretation of how individual, family, community, institutional, market and policy contexts shaped participants’ experiences. Five themes were identified: transformation of local fish resources into value-added products; perceived income-generation opportunities; development of entrepreneurial and food-processing skills; market access and commercialisation challenges; and the need for continuing institutional and community support. Participants described gaining exposure to product handling, processing, packaging and basic business practices, while viewing product sales as a potential supplementary income source; however, actual income change was not quantitatively measured. Given the small, context-specific sample, the findings do not establish causal effects or broad generalisability. Instead, they suggest that Sea2Value may represent an emerging community-based social business model that warrants further implementation and evaluation.
Downloads
References
Bacq, S., Hertel, C., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2022). Communities at the nexus of entrepreneurship and societal impact: A cross-disciplinary literature review. Journal of Business Venturing, 37(5), Article 106231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2022.106231
Badriyah, N., Wahyudi, S. T., Prastiwi, A., Nur, M., Sari, K., Nabella, R. S., & Radeetha, R. (2023). Economic empowerment through the development of food and beverage micro enterprises. Journal of Community Service and Empowerment, 4(2), 308–318. https://doi.org/10.22219/jcse.v4i2.26221
Bashir, K. M. I., Kim, J.-S., An, J. H., Sohn, J. H., & Choi, J.-S. (2017). Natural food additives and preservatives for fish-paste products: A review of the past, present, and future states of research. Journal of Food Quality, 2017, Article 9675469. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/9675469
Béné, C., Arthur, R., Norbury, H., Allison, E. H., Beveridge, M., Bush, S., Campling, L., Leschen, W., Little, D., Squires, D., Thilsted, S. H., Troell, M., & Williams, M. (2016). Contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food security and poverty reduction: Assessing the current evidence. World Development, 79, 177–196.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
Fadila, D., Lupikawaty, M., Saputra, A. F., Nastiti, A. A., & Aprianti, R. D. (2022). Branding, packaging, and digital marketing strategies for processed fish business in Pedamaran Village. Golden Ratio of Community Services and Dedication, 2(2), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.52970/grcsd.v2i2.196
FAO. (2020). The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2020: Sustainability in action. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
FAO. (2022). The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2022: Towards blue transformation. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Hassan, R. A., & Ali, M. A. (2021). Digital marketing adoption among small and medium enterprises in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(6), 1105–1118.
Ibrahim, N., Mustapha, R., Ibrahim, R. A., Ayob, M. N., Roslan, M. N. H., & Abdul Rahman, A. (2024). Resilience in the midst of difficulties: The challenges of single mothers receiving zakat assistance in Pahang. Environment and Social Psychology, 9(9), Article 2950. https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v9i9.2950
Joffre, O. M., Klerkx, L., & Khoa, T. N. D. (2018). Aquaculture innovation system analysis of transition to sustainable intensification in shrimp farming. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 38(3), 1–11.
Krause, G., Brugere, C., Diedrich, A., Ebeling, M. W., Ferse, S. C. A., Mikkelsen, E., Pérez Agúndez, J. A., Stead, S. M., Stybel, N., & Troell, M. (2015). A revolution without people? Closing the people-policy gap in aquaculture development. Aquaculture, 447, 44–54.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.
Little, D. C., Newton, R. W., & Beveridge, M. C. M. (2016). Aquaculture: A rapidly growing and significant source of sustainable food? Status, transitions and potential. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 75(3), 274–286.
Masri, N., Hanafiah, M. H., Adilah, N., & Ibrahim, M. R. (2024). Determining the local communities’ livelihood resources in coastal and marine tourism destination development in Pangkor Island, Malaysia: Preliminary findings. e-Academia Journal, 13(1), 40–60. https://doi.org/10.24191/e-aj.v13i1.25685
Mohd Salleh, N. H., & Abdul Halim, M. A. (2018). Enhancing environmental sustainability over fisheries industry through proactive risk evaluation: A case of Tok Bali fishing port. Journal of Sustainability Science and Management, Special Issue(4).
Musa, H., & Chinniah, M. (2016). Malaysian SMEs development: Future and challenges on going green. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 224, 254–262.
Peredo, A. M., & Chrisman, J. J. (2006). Toward a theory of community-based enterprise. Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 309–328.
Prosperi, P., Vergamini, D., Vlahos, G., & von Muenchhausen, S. (2018). Adding value to the fish! Business strategies in fish farming and small-scale fishery. Paper presented at the 7th AIEAA Conference.
Radu, E., Dima, A., Dobrota, E. M., Badea, A.-M., Madsen, D. Ø., Dobrin, C., & Stanciu, S. (2023). Global trends and research hotspots on HACCP and modern quality management systems in the food industry. Heliyon, 9(7), Article e18232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18232
Ravishankar, C. N., & Krishnamoorthy, E. (2024). Innovations in fish processing technology. In Transformation of agri-food systems. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8014-7_16
Rizwan, M., & Arivukumar. (2025). Development of value-added seafood products. In Advanced fish processing: Technology, safety, and quality control. Elite Publishing House.
Shahidullah, A. K. M. (2023). ‘Community-based adaptive entrepreneurship’ addressing climate and ecosystem changes: Evidence from a riparian area in Bangladesh. Climate Risk Management, 41, Article 100543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100543
Sinha, G., & Banerjee, M. (2025). Economic impact of fisheries and aquaculture on rural livelihoods: A review. The Bioscan, 20(3), 68–79. https://doi.org/10.63001/tbs.2025.v20.i03.pp68-79
Tambunan, T. (2019). Recent evidence of the development of micro, small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 9(18), 1–15.
Yani, A., Suherlan, & Az Zaakiyyah, H. K. (2024). The importance of mentorship in stimulating the growth and success of entrepreneurial business entities. Journal of Contemporary Administration and Management (ADMAN), 2(1), 337–342. https://doi.org/10.61100/adman.v2i1.129
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage.
Yusoff, M. N. H., Zainol, F. A., & Ibrahim, M. D. (2020). Entrepreneurship development and microenterprise sustainability in rural communities. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 13(5), 1220–1235.
