Nomadic Fishers in the Hilsa Sanctuary of Bangladesh: The Importance of Social and Cultural Values for Wellbeing and Sustainability

Abstract

This chapter employs a social wellbeing approach to assess the importance of small-scale fisheries in delivering viable livelihoods for a fishery-dependent nomadic community on the Ramgati coast in the Meghna River system of Bangladesh. The nomad communities of focus (known as Bede) are a fishing people, living on houseboats and travelling throughout the river ways. In recent decades, they have faced numerous threats and stressors affecting their traditional occupations and livelihoods, including growth in population as a result of the material success of their fishing occupation. The fishing Bede have persevered amidst these pressures, however, with positive relational and subjective benefits. The hilsa fishery has been very important as a basis for perpetuating the Bede community and culture. The identification of the social, cultural and livelihood contributions of small-scale fisheries through the social wellbeing lens has important implications for poverty alleviation and for the importance of securing sustainable small-scale fisheries.