Fishing efforts in Bay to be halved in 5 years

The government has planned to reduce fishing efforts in the Bay of Bengal by half in the next five years with an aim to increase fish stocks in Bangladesh’s sea territory.

The government is taking the initiative following the findings of various studies and a prescription of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) under the United Nations, said sources from the marine fisheries sector.

The reduced fishing efforts through introducing new regulations will increase fish stocks without hampering the annual production of marine fish and ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources, said Sharif Uddin, director of the Department of Marine Fisheries Department (MFD).

“Recent surveys show that fishing in the Bay grows by around five per cent annually. As a result of the overfishing, fish stocks are decreasing in the country’s territorial sea,” he said, adding, “For this reason, we are working on a plan to reduce the fishing efforts in the Bay by 5-10 per cent every year. In this way, the fishing efforts will come down to the FAO’s prescribed level within the next five years. At the same time, the fish stocks will also increase.”

“We are first looking at how to further regulate the marine fishing sector. A plan is going to be finalised soon following the FAO’s marine fishing policy guidelines,” Sharif Uddin added.

The MFD director said, “For the past few years, the government has been banning fishing during the breeding season in the Bay of Bengal for 65 days in the May-July period. Also, fishing is banned for 22 days during the Hilsa breeding season. Now some new rules will be introduced. Several projects are being implemented to bring all types of fishing under monitoring.”

According to government data, in 2021-22, Bangladeshi fishermen netted around 700,000 tonnes of marine fish, which is 15 per cent of the country’s total fish production.

Bangladesh is committed to achieving Sustainable Development Growth (SDG), consisting of 17 agendas, of the United Nations. One of the agendas is to conserve and sustainably use marine resources for sustainable development.

According to sources concerned, around five lakh fishermen are engaged in fishing in the Bay of Bengal with 225 industrial trawlers and around 65,000 mechanised and non-mechanised boats.

The latest marine fisheries survey conducted by the MV Meen Sandhani vessel states that the stock of larger-bodied and generally more valuable marine fish species is depleting due to overfishing.

Bangladesh has declared a marine reserve area in the Bay, covering 5624 sq km which is 4.73 per cent of the country’s sea territory.

According to FAO, the fraction of marine fish stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels has decreased from 90 per cent in 1974 to 66.9 per cent in 2015.

Through a verdict delivered in 2014 by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas, Bangladesh got the sovereign rights to 1,18,813 sq km of the territorial sea, 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone, and all kinds of animal and 354 nautical miles, from Chattogram coastal area, of the sea resources under the continental shelf.

Bangladesh’s sea territory consists of 20 per cent coastal area, 35 per cent shallow shelf sea area, and 45 per cent deep-sea area.

Fishing is mainly limited to coastal areas by 65,000 fishing boats and shelf-sea areas by 225 industrial trawlers. Bangladesh has no fishing capacity in the deep sea area.

About 15 per cent of the marine fish are netted by 5,000-6,000 fishermen of the industrial trawlers. These trawlers caught 119,000 tonnes of fish in 2020 and 130,000 tonnes in 2021.

MFD chief Sharif Uddin said at first, initiatives will be taken to reduce fishing efforts by industrial trawlers. We are telling them to change their fishing style, not to reduce their fishing ventures. The prescribed change in fishing style is expected to increase the fish stock in the sea.”

After trawlers, mechanised and non-mechanised fishing boats will also be gradually brought under regulation, he added.

“Due to the government initiatives to reduce fishing efforts, there may be a shortfall in investment in the fisheries sector. Because no one will come with big investments if further restrictions are imposed on fishing in the Bay,” said Mohammad Shahjalal, former general secretary of the Marine Fisheries Association of Industrial Trawler Owners.

“Currently, trawlers cannot go to sea for 65 days during the breeding session, 22 days of Hilsa breeding season, and some more days due to bad weather. An owner has to invest up to TK 20 crore in a trawler, including labour costs and all other expenses. But, on average, a trawler can complete only seven voyages to the sea in a year which is not sufficient at all to ensure profit sans the expenses,” he added.