Bangladesh is endowed by three principal river systems: the rivers Brahmaputra (Jamuna), Ganges (Padma), and Meghna. In the agro-based economy of Bangladesh,fisheries play an important role in nutrition, employment and foreign exchange earnings, contributing 4.37% to GDP, 2.01% to export earning, 60% to animal protein intake, in addition to providing 1.4 million people full time and 11 million part time employment. In 2012-2013 the total production of fish in Bangladesh was 3.41 million tons. About 82.73% of the fish production (2.82 million tons) comes from the inland fresh water resources and 17.27% from marine resources (0.58 million tons). Inland fisheries resources are broadly classified into inland open waters and inland closed waters which comprises the area of 3.91 million ha and 0.78 million ha contributing fish production over 1.85 million tons (54.54%) and 0.96 million tons (28.19%) respectively. Among the 4.69 million ha of inland open water resources, the major proportion consists of floodplains with an area of 2.8 million ha contributing 0.77 million tons of fish in 20012-13. Seasonal floodplains are water bodies that retain water for 5-6 months during which they are suitable to grow fish and other aquatic animals. Recent studies have revealed that, if 25% of the 2.8 million ha can be brought under community management, calculating 50% to be accessible, then 6.7 million people would be benefited including 2.7 million landless people. Out of 2.8 million ha of medium and deep-flooded areas, about 1.5 million ha are estimated to be suitable for community based fish culture. If 50% of accessible water of these areas is taken under aquaculture and management practices, then annual fish production will be increased 4 to 5 times over the existing production .

1. Floodplain Fisheries in Bangladesh :
Bangladesh is endowed by three principal river systems: the
rivers Brahmaputra (Jamuna), Ganges (Padma), and Meghna. In
the agro-based economy of Bangladesh,fisheries play an
important role in nutrition, employment and foreign exchange
earnings, contributing 4.37% to GDP, 2.01% to export earning,
60% to animal protein intake, in addition to providing 1.4 million
people full time and 11 million part time employment. In 2012-
2013 the total production of fish in Bangladesh was 3.41 million
tons. About 82.73% of the fish production (2.82 million tons)
comes from the inland fresh water resources and 17.27% from
marine resources (0.58 million tons). Inland fisheries resources
are broadly classified into inland open waters and inland closed
waters which comprises the area of 3.91 million ha and 0.78
million ha contributing fish production over 1.85 million tons
(54.54%) and 0.96 million tons (28.19%) respectively. Among the
4.69 million ha of inland open water resources, the major
proportion consists of floodplains with an area of 2.8 million ha
contributing 0.77 million tons of fish in 20012-13.
Seasonal floodplains are water bodies that retain water for 5-6
months during which they are suitable to grow fish and other
aquatic animals. Recent studies have revealed that, if
25% of the 2.8 million ha can be brought under community
management, calculating 50% to be accessible, then 6.7 million
people would be benefited including 2.7 million
landless people. Out of 2.8 million ha of medium and deep-
flooded areas, about 1.5 million ha are estimated to be suitable
for community based fish culture. If 50% of accessible water of
these areas is taken under aquaculture and management
practices, then annual fish production will be increased 4 to 5
times over the existing production .The floodplains differ largely in

2. physical features, size, ownership and location.
Previously, irrespective of ownership regimes, most of the
floodplains were used as common pool resources for harvest of
fish and other aquatic animals and plants during the monsoon. In
recent years the demand for floodplain fish production has
increased largely due to decreasing trends in capture fish
production from the floodplains (DoF, 2005). It was also realized
that floodplains offer a high potential for increased production
through fish culture during the monsoon. Attempts to bring the
floodplains under fish culture to increase production and include
the poor in sharing the benefits are surrounded fraught
complexities, however. Institutional issues are amongst the most
important challenges for achieving success.
During the dry season agricultural production dominates, with the
main occupation consisting of cropping rice and other
commodities for sale and domestic consumption; the boundaries
between privately and commonly owned lands are then relatively
clear. In the monsoon or wet season, land boundaries in the
flooded areas become indistinct, making it difficult in some cases
to identify private land owned by individual households.
In most cases floodplains are used as a resource for aquatic
production (fish and other aquatic animals and plants) with both
owners and non-owners having common access.
This is beneficial to the livelihoods of many people including poor
fishers. However, the open access to these resources and its
indiscriminate use resulted in overexploitation and reduction in
productivity. Therefore the benefits provided by the system to the
people have proven unsustainable. Ownership regimes of the
floodplains in Bangladesh are diverse and complex with some
floodplains being completely under public ownership, some public
but surrounded by private lands, and some under completely
private ownership. Floodplains under public ownership are

3. normally leased out by the Department of Land (DoL) in auction.
Priority is given to registered fishers’ societies, but in most cases
it is the moneyed and politically influential people who can afford
to pay lease money and take control over the floodplains to use it
for fish culture. There are initiatives to bring privately owned
floodplains under fish culture by contract between the owners and
individual entrepreneurs. Initiatives to bring public and privately
owned floodplains under community-based systems with multiple
beneficiaries are less common, however. Taking into account the
high potential of fish culture in floodplains, initiatives have been
taken to benefit more people through increased fish production.
One of the first, the Community-Based Fisheries Management
(CBFM) program, had a major focus on increasing production
through implementing conservation measures such as the
establishment of sanctuaries and implementation of harvesting
regulations. These were largely carried out in publicly owned
floodplains (largely beels) with long-term leases to
the community from the Land Department and technical and
institutional support from the DOF. The CBFM program resulted in
lots of valuable lessons learnt on different aspects, one of which,
the development of local level community based organizations
(CBOs), proved an important precondition for success.

4. Public floodplains :
o Leased to fishers – taken up by influential, use for fish
culture with increase production and income but limiting
access and benefits of the poor - fishers and other users
o Not leased - encroachment and land grabbing by private
land owners
o Some leased to fishers - managing under CBFM program
Private floodplains :
• CPR in monsoon – over exploitation, very low prod
• Fish culture by individual owner/s, companies use as large
close systems - increase fish production and income but
there is risk of loss of access by poor, adversely affect on
biodiversity of natural fisheries
Institution :
o Weak institution with poor governance
o Problem in Leadership, less transparent to members
o Less active participation of members

5. o Poor linkages with support providers
o Due to weak institution some cases public floodplains
leased to fishers group are taken up by influential people
During the monsoon the Bangladesh floodplain becomes
integrated into a single biological productive system. A
conservative estimate of the number of freshwater bony fish
species present in the system is 273 of which 13 are exotics.
Cyprinids, catfishes and hilsa shad Tenualosa ilisha, a clupeid,
predominate. About 20–30 fishes, mostly blackfishes, which are
resident in the floodplain and tolerant of low levels of oxygen
provide the majority of the national freshwater fish production.
Most of the rural population fish professionally, seasonally or for
subsistence. In addition to the harvesters, a further two million
people are involved in activities related to the fisheries sector. The
yield in the floodplain may vary from 50 to 400 kg ha−1
per year
and the majority of the fishes is eaten fresh. For full-time fishers,
conflict over water resources can be intense during the dry
season when water is required for irrigation. Flood control,
drainage and irrigation schemes may obstruct the lateral
migrations of rheophilic whitefish species and the passive drift of
larvae from the main channel to the modified floodplains. Existing
modifications to the hydrological regimes may cause reductions in
catch per unit area and fish biodiversity. The area under flood
control is expected to be 5.74×106
ha in 2010 resulting in a loss of
ca. 151,300 t of fishes. There has been a move away from the
leasing of water estates (‘jalmohals’) to the promotion of co-
management. The open access policy, which has led to severe
competition for the resources, has reduced the effectiveness of
co-management. The future aim is to shift the benefits to the
fishers and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the resources.

6. Both habitat restoration and fish enhancement are important in
sustaining the floodplain fisheries.
Annual cycle of events in floodplains:
There are three categories of participant in flood plain fishing:
professional, seasonal and subsistence, although there is
considerable overlap. Professional fishers were traditionally
Hindus using larger, costly gears in closed water bodies and
rivers. This group has declined and Muslim agriculturists have
increasingly become professional fishers
Seasonal fishers or part-time fishers fish on the
floodplains in the monsoon period when there is, at
least theoretically, open access to the fishery. They
supplement their fishing income with agricultural
work and other non-fishing activities. Their numbers

7. have recently increased and they intensively exploit
the seasonal floodplain fishery.
Subsistence fishers are opportunistic according to
floodplain conditions and catch mainly for home consumption
using relatively inexpensive, simple gears.
This group includes landless labourers, small farmers,
women and children.Research on floodplain production has
mainly been divided into agriculture or fisheries. There
is a general lack of data on fishing effort and the contribution of
fishing to incomes in mixed occupationhouseholds in relation to
seasonal and hydrological cycles and competing livelihood
activities. Even detailed socio-economic studies.
have largely or entirely overlooked the contribution of fishing to
floodplain livelihoods, other than to state that fishing is practised
by professional fishers and is a ‘supplementary occupation for
many households’.
The Bangladesh Department of Fisheries (DOF) estimated that
73% of all households are involved in floodplain fisheries.
found the participation in fishing in agricultural villages (as distinct
from fishing villages) to range from 47% in the northwest to 73%
in the north-central region. A reciprocal study of involvement of
households in fishing communities in agriculture revealed
that farming and agricultural labouring were the most
important non-fishing activities in a village well endowed with
land, but that trade was more important in more perennially
flooded areas.
In addition to those involved in the harvest sector, the fisheries of
Bangladesh provide employment for ca. 2 million people,
including fish traders, transporters, packers and other related
occupations.
The sector also supports lease holders and the water-bailiffs they
employ to enforce their propertyrights. In addition, the contribution

8. of children to the floodplain fishery is often overlooked, though
their fishing, using cheap simple gears such as push
and scoop nets, can account for >50% of effort in
subsistence fisheries.
Development strategies :
One unique aspect of community based management approach is its
decentralized approach to co-management that focuses on
collaboration with local government. Reduction of fishing pressure was
likely to be a critical part of reviving floodplain fisheries in Bangladesh.
Formation of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) is a crucial task,
the failure and success of wetland resource management depends on
CBO performance and accountability. A range of actions available to
mitigate the impacts of human activities on floodplains. These

9. consisted of two essential components, firstly ensuring that flow
conditions in the river were sufficient to maintain the floodplain and to
fulfill the requirements of the fish and secondly ensuring that the
physical structure of the floodplain and its associated rivers was
maintained in a condition suitable for fish. Channels connecting
floodplain water bodies to the river should be kept open and free of silt
and channels those have been sealed or lost should be restored. He
also pointed out that the main river channel should be conserved in a
healthy state and not over channelized. Connectivity should be
maintained with upstream tributaries necessary for movements and
breeding of migratory fish species.
Technical management: For sustainable management of water bodies
and their ecosystems through improved community planning and
appropriate management interventions including the establishment of
sanctuaries, control of fishing effort, habitat restoration, stocking
fingerlings, gear restriction, ban on complete dewatering and other
measures are need to be considered.
Community based co-management: To ensure sustainable and
equitable fisheries, community based co-management will be
formalized in water bodies where it has already been established
through various projects, expanded to other water bodies.
Community based organizations: To provide a formal legal recognition
of user rights, community based organizations where fishers have a
leading role will be facilitated and organized. The type of community
based organization appropriate will vary according to the location, it
may be membership based (fishers), an organization representing
different stakeholder groups, or a set of volunteers from the
community concerned to ensure sustainable fisheries.

10. Conclusion:
Bangladesh floodplain fisheries are complex,
dynamic and valuable. Most of the population
exploited rich and productive multi-species
assemblages for protein and income on a seasonal
basis, complementing their agricultural activities
and taking advantageof the natural variations in fish
catch ability during the flood cycle. Complex
institutional arrangements and access rights largely
determine the distribution of benefits among
different sectors of society. Whilst catch trends
alone cannot always be relied upon to determine
the exploitation status of fish stocks, the national
catch statistics appear to offer little support to the
widespread notion that Bangladesh fisheries are
overexploited. With the exception of the main
rivers, catches from other sectors (including total
inland catches) are, based on the statistics,
increasing or remaining relatively stable. The
accuracy of the national statistics, however, is
questionable, and the results of biological
assessments suggest that many stocks exhibit

11. extremely low annual survival rates. By
combining the catches of many different species in
a single ‘other species’ category, the national
statistics may also be concealing the extinction of
fishes or the effects of ecosystem over-fishing.
Hydraulic engineering structures are increasingly
forming an integral part of the Bangladesh
floodplain environment and economy. Although
hydrological modifications within these schemes
appear to have little impact on the production
potential of individual fish, their levees and
embankments can significantly diminish the
recruitment to modified floodplains of prized
rheophilic whitefish species. The effects
are manifest in lower catch per unit area and local
species diversity, as well as potentially more
extreme-flood-prone main river channels. More
subtle effects may have been, and may remain,
undetected. It is likely that further flood control
schemes will be constructed until it is perceived
that further improvements in agricultural output
and economic stability no longer outweigh the costs

12. of their proven impacts, including those related to
fisheries. Faced with limited institutional capacity
and resources, and inadequate single species
models to guide management decision-making, the
Government of Bangladesh is increasingly devolving
management responsibility to communities,
encouraging a more adaptive and participatory
approach on a local scale. This has demanded
significant institutional reform, particularly with
respect to the transfer of water body ownership
and access rights. Most projects are still
in their infancy but, so far, the results appear
promising. Establishing and ensuring the continuity
of these projects, however, is costly in terms of time
and resources, and they often fail to resolve the
problem of resource access-denial faced by the
landless poor during flood recession in the post-
monsoon season when fishing activities are most
profitable. Therefore, the creation and promotion
of alternative livelihood strategies for these groups
during this period may, together with further time
and resources, be a prerequisite for the sustainable

13. co-management of the nation’s fisheries resources.
Community management of the inland fisheries of
Bangladesh is becoming more common. In closed
systems such as permanent water bodies this is
much easier to achieve and to spread the benefits
to all. The open access policy for most rivers and
extensive floodplains, which leads to severe
competition for the resource, reduces the potential
effectiveness of co-management.
Future trends must be towards improving the
sustainability of local institutions and developing
management systems for the larger fisheries. The
government will continue to have a major role in
these and it should provide incentives for
communities to take the lead in the management
and conservation of their local resources. Useful
guidelines for the management of the floodplain
river fisheries have been given by Hoggarth et al.
(1999b). They suggest that effective management
requires a holistic and multi-disciplinary
approach. The extensive variability in the ecological
and social characteristics of the floodplain fisheries

14. as outlined in the present paper indicates that
management must be flexible and appropriate to
meet local needs. The majority of those who make a
living on the floodplains depend on a combination
of aquatic and terrestrial production. Research
requirements include the need to quantify the
competition for surface water between agriculture
and fishing in relation to the projected expansion of
irrigated cropping. The fisheries are very valuable
but they are also very vulnerable and their
sustainable exploitation requires co-operation
between all users of the river floodplain ecosystem.
References :
1.Fao.org
2. The Bangladesh floodplain fisheries by J.F. Craig,
A.S. Halls, J.J.F. Barr, C.W. Bean
3. http://www.academia.edu/29044612/The_Bangladesh
_floodplain_fisheries
4. Worldfishcenter.org