Abstract
Natural hazards frequently batter Bangladesh and cause damages to fisheries sector of the country. The main objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the effects of storm/tidal surge, waterlogging, cyclone, flood, drought and erosion on spatial distribution of damages and economic loss in fisheries of Bangladesh. Data were collected from existing literatures followed by scoring and attribute-wise maps were prepared using IDRISI3.2. The highest economic loss (US$ 17.65 million) in fishery sector was observed in Southern part and the least in hilly regions. The damages caused by natural hazards followed the order of storm/tidal surge > waterlogging > cyclone > flood > drought > erosion. About 21% areas of South and South-east Bangladesh were affected by high to very high storm/tidal surge. Very severe waterlogging problems were observed in 6.96% areas of the country. Moderate to high damages because of cyclone were found in about 11% areas in South and South-east Bangladesh. Moderate to high flooding problems were mostly prevalent in Central and North-east part of the country covering 15-19 per cent areas. Drought and erosion are less damaging to fishery sector compared to other studied natural hazards. Although exposure index to natural hazards is high, relative index to national economy because of damages to fisheries sector are low. Adaptive measures in coastal areas as a long-term strategy would be participatory construction of hard structures and reclamation/conservation of wetlands throughout the country including improved warning system could be undertaken for minimizing damages in fisheries sector of Bangladesh.
Highlights
Total inland areas in Bangladesh are 6.7 million hectares of which 94% are used for open water capture fishery and 6% for closed water culture
The huge losses in fishery sector were related with severity of storm/tidal surge > waterlogging > cyclone > flood > drought > erosion, but the damaging effects of flood were quite noticeable in all over the country (Figure 2)
Moderate to very high erosions were mostly found in big river flow areas, which could be 6-10 per cent of the country (Figure 5b)
Summary
Total inland areas in Bangladesh are 6.7 million hectares of which 94% are used for open water capture fishery and 6% for closed water culture. Seasonal flooding of 4-6 months extends fish culture areas over 5.5 million hectares. In 2016-17, marine fisheries catch was about 0.64 million ton that was only 15.42% of total fish production in Bangladesh (YFSB, 2017). Fisheries help in providing livelihood for more than 11% people of the country (DoF, 2016) and fish stocks are under pressure from construction of barrages, dams, over exploitation, pollution, erosion, introduction of exotic stocks, etc. Fisheries contribute 3.65% of national gross domestic product (GDP), which is 23.81% to agricultural GDP (FRSS, 2016) and 2.01%, to total export (DoF, 2015). Any damage to this sector influences many stakeholders’ livelihood
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