Description

Bangladesh is endowed with a vast expanse of inland open waters characterized by rivers, canals, natural and man-made lakes, freshwater marshes, estuaries, brackish water impoundments and floodplains. The potential fish resources resulting from these are among the richest in the world; in production, only China and India outrank Bangladesh. Bangladesh earned about BDT 51,055 million by exporting frozen fish, shrimps and prawns in FY13-14 which was about 2.1 percent of the country’s total export without considering the proceeds from EPZ. In FY 2013-14, the share of fisheries value added in agricultural GDP reached 25 percent, increasing by 0.5 percent. The sector provides living and livelihood for more than 11 percent people of the country. If the available resources are used sustainably with proper technological assistance, fish produced from aquaculture would efficiently meet the protein demand of growing population of the country. The needs of Bangladesh’s poor fisher community to eat what they catch and lack of a legal legislative framework means the situation can only worsen. Hope, however, is offered through several new conservation initiatives including the establishment of fish sanctuaries at strategic points in rivers and floodplains, concerted breeding programmes and the maintenance of captive stocks and cryogenically stored materials.