Fisheries and Aquaculture in Bangladesh:Challenges and Opportunities

The purpose of this paper is to review the performance of fisheries sector in Bangladesh and the challenges it is facing. Data and information were sourced from the publication of the Department of Fisheries (DoF) and related non-published grey literature. Bangladesh is predominantly an agrarian economy and is naturally endowed with a huge sweet water resources and the world’s longest continuous sea beach. With the world’s largest flooded wetland, the third largest aquatic biodiversity in Asia behind only to China and India, Bangladesh is considered as one the most suitable region for aquaculture and fisheries in the world. The country has an inland water area of about 45,000 km2 and about 710 km long coastal belt. Given this extensive water resource, it is evident that fisheries play an important role in the economy and the diet of the population. Fish and fish products supply 60 percent of animal protein and around three percents of total export earnings. In recent years, however, the fisheries sector is confronted with challenges posed by numerous natural and anthropogenic causes such as climate change, natural disasters, unbalanced urbanization and industrialization, overfishing and environmental pollution. The combined effect of these factors is posing significant threat to the income and food security of the population and urges for immediate actions by government and policymakers.