Current status and chronological development of fisheries and aquaculture in Bangladesh

Abstract

While many parts of the world face water scarcity, Bangladesh is fortunate to have an abundance of the resource. The economic health of the country depends heavily on the fishing industry. Both capture fisheries and culture fisheries are common types of fisheries. Unlike culture fisheries, which is farming aquatic organisms in closed waters under controlled conditions, capture fisheries typically means harvesting fish and other aquatic organisms from open waters. This article examines Bangladesh's fisheries and aquaculture sectors using data from the Bangladesh Department of Fisheries and a few other relevant organizations and articles. Bangladesh is one of the world's major fish producers, with a total output of 4.62 million metric tons (MT) in the fiscal year 2020-2021. The majority (57.10%) of the country's fish and shrimp come from aquaculture, while 28.16 and 14.74 percent come from inland capture and marine capture, respectively. Bangladesh ranks only fifth in aquaculture production and third in inland open-water capture production whereas it stands first in hilsa production in the world. One of the most productive fish species is the major carp. There has been a modest increase in the country's inland aquaculture output over the past few decades, but the country also gets fish from inland capture and marine fisheries. The most recent ten years have seen significant contributions to inland capture fisheries and inland aquaculture from floodplains and ponds, respectively. The most common fisheries exports are frozen raw shrimp in blocks, individually quick frozen (IQF) shrimp and white fish, chilled and frozen Hilsa, crab, etc. In 2020-21, the country has earned BDT 4088.96 crore, or 1.24% of total export revenues, from exporting 76.59 metric tons of fish, shrimp, and other fishery products. However, over the past decade, the value of exported fish and fishery products has shown a nearly erratic trend. In contrast, annual production of the national fish hilsa has increased on a rising trend over the past decade. The number of carp seeds produced from both natural and artificial sources has followed an erratic increasing trend with some deviations during the past decennium. As the country's fisheries and aquaculture industries continue to grow, many cutting-edge technologies are making significant contributions that are helping to improve the quality of life for all involved. This has helped Bangladesh's economy expand over the past decade, particularly in fishing and aquaculture sectors.