Impacts of community based fisheries management (CBFM) on the livelihood of fishers at Sherudanga beel in Rangpur District, Bangladesh

Abstract

Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) approach appears to be an important factor in managing fisheries successfully. Thus, this study aims to investigate and evaluate the fisheries management practices and its impact on the livelihood of the fisheries community of Sherudanga beel in Rangpur district (Bangladesh) for a period of 12 months, from March 2010 to February 2011. The study was conducted based on Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) practices, beel biodiversity, fish production, socio-economic and livelihood condition of the fishermen community. The studied beel is 83 acre seasonal floodplain, which was mainly used by a community consisting of 80 families for their livelihood, where the CBFM approach was introduced by the community. At pre-CBFM, there was no controlled management system from any NGO or even Government for the proper management of the beel. Recently, community fishers leased out this beel from the government in year 2000 for 12 years and started to manage it. The CBFM project works for the development of fishery system, the fishermen community and the general society.   The yearly gross fish production was higher than pre-CBFM period, implying that average abundance and fish biodiversity were significantly higher in the CBFM implemented beel. Majority of the fishermen had primary level education (37.5%) compared to 27.5% and 16.5% having secondary level and above secondary level education respectively, while 18.75% of them could sign their name only, indicating the improvement of education level among fishers. About 43.75% of them had small size family, while 40.0% and 16.25% had middle and large size families respectively. The prevalence of unconstructed house was the highest (77.5%) while few of them (22.5%) had semi constructed house. About 68.75% of the fishermen had medium income, while 12.5% and 18.75% had small and large income respectively. More than half (56.25%) of the fishermen received credits from different sources while rest (43.75%) of them did not get any credits. In conclusion, the overall findings showed that community based fisheries management has significantly increased annual fish production, lifted household income levels, improved access to credit from a wide range of sources and enabled livelihood diversification.