Find Fisheries expertise in Bangladesh
- Overview of industry
- Fishery bodies
Fisheries, together with agriculture and forestry, contribute 19% to Bangladesh’s GDP (2008), while fisheries alone contribute about 4% to the country’s GDP (2011). The fisheries sector is a crucial source of employment in Bangladesh providing employment for 1.2 million fishermen and crew on boats, as well as over 12 million jobs indirectly through the sale and distribution of fish. While the industry may only contribute about 4% to the GDP, it accounts for nearly 10% of employment in Bangladesh. Approximately 97% of inland catch is marketed internally for domestic consumption while the remaining 3% is exported to the EU, USA, UK, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and other developed countries.
The sector can be broadly divided into four major sub-sectors: inland capture, inland culture, marine industrial (trawling) fisheries and marine artisanal fisheries. Despite the abundance of marine waters and a coastline of 580km, only about 18% of total fish production comes from the marine sector. The vast majority (82%) of capture comes from inland fisheries, nearly half (41%) of which is from rivers and their tributaries, estuaries, the Sundarban mangrove forest area, permanent wetlands called beel and seasonal flood plains. The remaining catch is from closed water bodies such as ponds and ditches, ox-bow lakes, and shrimp and fish farms. The catch profile for inland fisheries is largely indigenous species (45%), followed by major carp (28%), exotic carp (14%), large and small shrimps (9%), and Ilish fishes (4%).
Marine fisheries are dominated by artisanal fisheries who account for over nine tenths (93%) of marine catch. The catch profile for marine fisheries consists mainly of marine Ilsha, shrimp, Bombay duck, Jew fishes, catfish, pomfret, sharks and rays and miscellaneous marine fishes. The small industrial sub-sector’s catch profile is essentially the same, except about a third of the trawlers target shrimp.
Major fishing companies include the Agro Bangla Group, Chalna Marine Products Ltd., Coastal Seafoods Limited, and the Daffodil Fishery.
Several NGOs and fishermen’s co-operatives are involved in marine fisheries development activities in the country. One leading organisation in the fisheries sector is The Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF), which is a non-profit private research and advocacy organisation created through a USAID project. It works as an interface among the public and private sectors, as well as academic institutions and development agencies. Other NGOs who aim to develop coastal communities include Codec, Caritas, and Proshika-MUK.
The government of Bangladesh’ approach to sustainability is enshrined in the National Fisheries Strategy (NFS) which is developed under the guidance of National Fisheries Policy 1998 (NFP). Outcomes of this strategy include direct attempts to conserve aquatic biodiversity through fish sanctuaries and fish habitat restoration projects.
The Department of Fisheries (DOF) is the principal institution for the management and development of the fish resources of Bangladesh. Its activities are supported by two other organisations, the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) and the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI).
Fisheries organisations in Bangladesh | |
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Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock |
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