Respondents ranged from 17 to 83 years old (n=178). Sixty percent of primary respondents in each household were men and 40% were women ( Table 1). Household size ranged from two to 22 people per household, with an average of seven people per house. Estimated monthly household income ranged from SBD $55 to $46,100 per month (SBD $1.00 approximately=$7.00 USD) with a median of $1910 per month, but this varied

considerably within and between villages. On average, 17% of respondents were without formal education. GSI-IX in vitro Of the remainder, 5% had completed tertiary or vocational (trade school, teaching college) education. The majority of households (96%) were engaged in two or more livelihood activities, with the most common being gardening, off-farm employment and selling produce at market (Table 2). Seventy six percent of respondents were involved in gardening, off-farm employment or selling produce at market as their primary livelihood. Animal protein sources were dominated by fish, supplemented by tinned meat, chicken and occasionally other fresh meat (Fig. 2). Tinned fish (canned tuna) was the most commonly consumed animal

food source, eaten on average 15 days per month, followed by fresh reef fish and selleck fresh tuna. Salt-fish, tilapia and other freshwater fish were each consumed on 2–4 days a month, on average. Over both islands consumption patterns were similar (Fig. 2), with no statistically significant differences in the frequency of consumption of different types of fish and meat between the households near Auki and those near Honiara. When comparing coastal and inland settlements, in Malaita the people on Isoconazole the coast ate significantly more reef fish than the inland people (P<0.001) and in Guadalcanal the people in the inland communities ate significantly more tilapia than those in

the coastal communities (P=0.006). Fifty three percent of all respondents actively fished for tilapia at least occasionally (Fig. 3); 13% of these fished on a daily basis. Catches from fishing trips averaged between 50 and 100 fish (usually between 10 and 20 cm long; authors’ personal observations). Households that were directly engaged in tilapia fishing consumed, on average, 84% of fish they caught. Sixteen percent of fishers reported that they also sold some of their catch in local markets (formal and informal) at SBD $5–$20 for approximately 5–10 fishes. The frequency of tilapia consumption by individual households was poorly correlated with the number of households engaged in fishing. Only 16% of the people consuming tilapia were also tilapia fishers, suggesting that the majority either bought the fish or were given the fish by their neighbours. Approximately equal numbers of men and women marketed their catch. The majority of respondents (88%) said that they had consumed tilapia before and of these 95% said that in their household men, women and children all ate tilapia.