Fisheries sector in Bangladesh represents as one of the most productive and dynamic sectors in the country. This sector plays a significant role in food security, employment, and foreign exchange earnings in the economy. At present agricultural transformation is taking place in Bangladesh. With the changes of farming system, farmers have started to shift their crop land to aquaculture as they considered it more profitable compared to rice production. The production of inland fisheries represents an increasing trend since 1989-90 with a growth rate of around 5-7%. Similarly, marine fisheries have also shown an increasing trend while a fluctuated growth rate has emerged in this sub sector. The fisheries sector in the 21st century is facing the challenges of food security for the increasing population, habitat degradation, urbanization, and industrial development. Development of responsible fisheries management and optimal use of water bodies can address those challenges. Since fishery is a productive growth sector in Bangladesh, it has high potential to contribute in the socioeconomic development of the country.

1. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Bangladesh: an overview of the present status, challenges and future potential
JFAR
Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Bangladesh: an
overview of the present status, challenges and future
potential
M. Serajul Islam1
, Hasneen Jahan2*
, A. K. M. Abdullah Al-Amin3
1,2,3
Department of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh.
Fisheries sector in Bangladesh represents as one of the most productive and dynamic sectors
in the country. This sector plays a significant role in food security, employment, and foreign
exchange earnings in the economy. At present agricultural transformation is taking place in
Bangladesh. With the changes of farming system, farmers have started to shift their crop land to
aquaculture as they considered it more profitable compared to rice production. The production
of inland fisheries represents an increasing trend since 1989-90 with a growth rate of around 5-
7%. Similarly, marine fisheries have also shown an increasing trend while a fluctuated growth
rate has emerged in this sub sector. The fisheries sector in the 21
st
century is facing the
challenges of food security for the increasing population, habitat degradation, urbanization, and
industrial development. Development of responsible fisheries management and optimal use of
water bodies can address those challenges. Since fishery is a productive growth sector in
Bangladesh, it has high potential to contribute in the socioeconomic development of the
country.
Key words: Fisheries sector, production, export trend, overview, Bangladesh.
INTRODUCTION
Bangladesh is endowed with vast marine, brackish, and
inland waters having plenty of fisheries resources. It has
720 km long coastal line along southern part of the
country facing Bay of Bengal. Contribution of fisheries in
the national economy of Bangladesh is substantial,
particularly with reference to food consumption, nutrition,
employment, and export. In 2013-14, fisheries sector
contributed about 23.12 % to the agricultural gross
domestic product (GDP) and 3.69 % to the total GDP and
that of 2.01 % to the export earning of the country. The
sector's contribution to the national economy is much
higher than its 4.39% share in GDP, as it provides about
60% of the animal protein intake and more than11% of
the total population of the country is directly or indirectly
involved in this sector for their livelihoods (DoF, 2013).
Total fish production was estimated to be 3.41 million
tonnes during 2012-2013 of which 83 % and 17 % of total
catch was obtained from inland and marine fisheries
respectively (DoF, 2014). Fish is the third largest
contributor to Bangladesh’s export earnings and is
growing annually by 5-8 %. In FY 2013-14, Bangladesh
earned USD 630.24 million by exporting fish and fish
products (EPB, 2014).
*Corresponding author: Professor, Department of
Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University,
Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh. Email: E-mail:
hasneen.jahan@bau.edu.bd, Tel.: +8801712-291417
1
Co-authors: serajulbau@yahoo.com, Tel.: +8801715-
028792
3
Co-author: E-mail: abdullah.alamin@bau.edu.bd, Tel.:
+8801743-120000
Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research
Vol. 1(1), pp. 002-009, December, 2016. © www.premierpublishers.org. ISSN: 2326-7262
Review Article

2. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Bangladesh: an overview of the present status, challenges and future potential
Jahan et al. 002
Figure 1. Resource wise contribution of fish to total production
Source: DoF, 1985; 2013.
Revenue from exports of nonfish agricultural goods is
gradually being outpaced by fish products, to the extent
that fish has become the most important primary
commodity that Bangladesh exports (Dey et al., 2008).
The growth rate of this sector over the last 10 years is
almost steady and encouraging, varying from 4.76 to
7.32% with an average 5.61%. About 12 million people
are directly or indirectly involved in this sector. Labour
employment in this sector has been increasing
approximately by 3.5% annually (DoF, 2013).
Bangladesh is rich in water resources in the form of
ponds, natural depressions (haors and beels), lakes,
canals, rivers and estuaries. Considering water resources
it stands third in the world after China and India (FAO,
2014). The fisheries sector is profitable even with
minimum investment and time. Many fish farms and
hatcheries have been recently established with
investment from the government and the private sector.
Expansion and achieving required productivity is
relatively easy in these activities and have an impact on
socio-economic development, food security, poverty
reduction, and employment generation. Bangladesh
being an agro-based country is focusing on diversification
of agriculture where the contribution of fisheries sector
has been increasing gradually (MoP, 2015). Following the
agricultural diversification strategy of the government it
might be interesting to see the transformation of fisheries
sector over the years. Therefore, the current paper
investigates the present scenario of fisheries sector of
Bangladesh and how this sector has flourished as an
important economic sector over time in Bangladesh, as
well as highlights the current challenges and future
potential of this sector.
FISHERIES RESOURCES IN BANGLADESH
Bangladesh is fortunate enough having extensive and
huge water resources scattered all over the country in the
forms of ponds, beels, lakes, canals, small and large
rivers, and estuaries covering an area of 18,290 sq. km.
(FAO, 2014). Due to favourable climatic conditions, these
water bodies are highly productive and also show rich
fish biodiversity. The diversified fisheries resources of the
country are divided into three groups, i.e., inland capture,
inland culture and marine capture. The three groups of
fisheries resources are briefly described below:
Inland capture fisheries
Inland capture fisheries have historically dominated the
fish production in Bangladesh. In the past the major
source of fish production in Bangladesh was the inland
open water capture fisheries. Inland capture fishery
comprises rivers and estuaries, Sundarban water
resource in the forest, beels, Kaptailake, and floodplain
land. The corresponding areas of these water bodies are
presented in Table 1. However, due to mainly decline and
degradation of resources, the share of inland capture
fisheries has been reduced remarkably during the last
three decades. In 1984-85, the contribution of inland
capture and culture fisheries to total fish production were
63% and 15%, respectively; whereas in 2011-12, inland
capture fisheries contributes only 29% and inland culture
fisheries contributes 53% to total production (Figure 1).
Due to over exploitation of fish including use of harmful
fishing gears and system (fishing by dewatering),
degradation and loss of fish habitats, increase agriculture
production and road communication, siltation of water
bodies by natural process, introduction of a number of
alien invasive fish species and water pollution by
industry, and agrochemicals, the natural inland fish
stocks have declined significantly and fish biodiversity
have been affected seriously (Ali et al., 2009).
In case of inland capture fisheries, major carps are the
dominant species, followed by exotic carps (silver carp,
common carp, mirror carp and grass carp). Other
prominent species are cat fish, snake head, hilsa and
prawn. The inland water fishers deploy a wide variety of
fishing gear, including gill nets, seine nets, push nets,

3. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Bangladesh: an overview of the present status, challenges and future potential
J. Fish. Aquacul. Res. 003
drag nets, lift nets, hook and line and various types of
traps. All operations are small-scale in nature. Country
boat types, with or without inboard engines, are used in
inland capture fisheries.
The establishment of fish sanctuaries is being
encouraged by Department of Fisheries and about 500
sanctuaries have been established by 2012. In addition,
management measures have been introduced in rivers to
contain fisheries of hilsa, which migrate up rivers from the
Bay of Bengal for breeding. Hilsa has been regarded as
fully exploited or overexploited and there has been an
increasing exploitation of juveniles. The Government has
introduced a short seasonal ban for hilsa on major
spawning grounds during the breeding season (10 days
closure), covering 7,000 km
2
(FAO, 2014). At present,
improved management is the first priority in the fisheries
development policy with a view to enhance production.
Aquaculture
As the fish production from aquaculture has increased
remarkably over the last few years, many poor and ultra-
poor of rural Bangladesh have got the opportunity of
fulltime and part time employment. About 11% of the
people of the country now directly or indirectly depend on
the fish sector for their livelihood. Among the manpower
associated with the fish sector, 10% are women.
Moreover, 80% workers working for fish processing
plants and fish drying centers are women. (DoF, 2013;
Hossain et al., 2013).
Aquaculture system can be classified into i) extensive
system relying on natural food produced in the water
body without supplementary inputs, ii) semi-intensive
systems relying mostly on natural feed but supplemented
with feed and fertilizer and iii) intensive systems relying
on nutritionally complete concentrate feed and fertilizers
(Edward, 1993). Aquaculture has expanded rapidly in
some areas of Bangladesh. In total pond area, 90% are
reported to be in use for fish production. The main
species are Indian major carps: rohu (Labeo rohita) catla
(Catla catla), mrigal (Cirrhinus cirrhosus), exotic carps:
silver carp, common carp, and catfish: Thai pangas
(Pangasius hypophthalmus), all contributing 5% or more
to the total production. Other common aquaculture
species are: bighead carp, mirror carp and silver barb.
The latter three are all introduced species. The
contribution of tilapia (primarily Nile tilapia and also Java
tilapia, Oreochromis mossabicus) is growing but still
reported to be just 1.5% of the total. In the publicly
managed oxbow lakes (baors) the exotic carps (silver
carp, grass carp, common carp and also bighead carp)
make up 46% of the total production, followed by the
major carps with 13%. The composition is more varied in
the privately managed oxbow lakes, where exotic carps
make up 56% and major carps 22% of the production.
Other species are catfish, snakehead and other carps
(FAO, 2014).
Shrimp farming is concentrated in southern Bangladesh,
with Khulna Division having 205,346 ha, followed by
Chittagong Division with 60,031 ha and Barisal Division
with 8,196 ha. The total production in shrimp farms in
2011-12 was 196,306 tonnes , of which 132,702 tonnes
was shrimp and the remaining was finfish (DoF, 2013).
The main species are Penaeus monodon (local name:
bagda) and Macrobrachium rosenbergii (local name:
golda). Other species are Metapenaeus monoceros (local
name: horina), and Penaeus indicus (local name: chaka).
Traditionally shrimp farming began by trapping tidal
waters in nearby coastal enclosures known as 'gher'
where no feed, fertilisers or other inputs were applied.
With an increasing demand from both national and
international markets, farmers started to switch over into
improved extensive and semi-intensive systems.
The major part of the pond produced fish is marketed
locally without any processing and sold fresh. Fish
destined for the major urban markets are iced and sold
fresh. There is a small export of frozen tilapia to niche
markets mainly in the UK. The shrimp is processed and
frozen in 82 fish/shrimp processing plants, of which 71
are EU approved and HACCP certified. During the last 10
years a quality control system has gradually been
established with laboratories mainly for inspection of
export consignments.
Marine resources
Fish production from the Bay of Bengal (BoB) marginally
increased over the last 10 years but its relative share in
fisheries production has declined. Bangladesh’s coastal
waters contain diverse fisheries resources, with 475
species of finfish including the cartilaginous fishes -
sharks, skates and rays. The majority of the commercially
targeted stocks are reported to be over-exploited and
there were significant declines in catches during last
decades. In the Bay of Bengal, both industrial and
artisanal fisheries exploit coastal and offshore marine
fisheries resources without any management plan. This is
due to the non-availability of scientific information and
difficulties in implementation of management strategies.
At present, the marine fisheries sector contributes about
18% to the country’s total fish production (Table 1). The
marine fisheries activity in the country presently
comprises mainly of artisanal sector (Islam et al., 2014).
Marine fisheries include industrial fishery with large
trawler fleet as well as artisanal fisheries with
mechanized and non-mechanized boat. Fishing
operations in the estuaries and coastal waters used to be
carried out by traditional craft until the mid-1960s. From
1966, two organizations, namely the Bangladesh
Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) and the
Bangladesh Jatio Matshyajibi Samabay Samity (BJMSS)
started the process of mechanization by importing and

4. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Bangladesh: an overview of the present status, challenges and future potential
Jahan et al. 004
Table 1. Sector-wise annual fish production, 2012-13.
Fisheries sector Water body
(ha)
Production
(tonne)
Percentage Production
(kg/ha)
A. Inland waters
(1) Open water
body
i. River and estuaries 8,53,863 1,47,264 172
ii. Sundarban 1,77,700 15,945 90
iii. Beal 1,14,161 87,902 770
iv. Kaptai lake 68,800 9,017 131
v. Flooded land 27,02,304 7,01,330 260
Sub-total 39,16,828 9,61,458 28.19 %
(2) Locked water
Body
i. Pond 3,71,309 14,46,598 3,896
ii. Seasonal cultured
water body (Flooded land)
1,30,488 2,00,833 1,539
iii. Baor 5,488 6,146 1,120
iv. Shrimp farm 2,75,274 2,06,235 749
Sub-total 7,82,559 18,59,808 54.54 %
Total internal water
body
46,99,387 28,21,266 82.73 %
B. Sea water
body
i. Trawler 73,030
ii. Artisanal 5,15,958
Total sea water body 5,88,988 17.27 %
Total 34,10,254 100 %
Source: DoF, 2014.
introducing marine engines. The present number of
marine fishing boats are 45377 artisanal boats, of which
23651 are non-mechanized and 21726 are mechanized
(BBS, 2012). An estimated 93% of marine catch was
produced in the artisanal sub-sector. Hilsa is the most
important species with 202,951 tonnes, all from artisanal
fisheries. Other important species are Bombay duck
(58,263 tonnes), Pomfret (46,643 tonnes), and jewfish
(35,743 tonnes). The total shrimp fisheries produce
52,217 tonnes, of which 2,932 tonnes are catches from
trawlers, the balance being artisanal production. The
government has declared a marine reserve (covering 698
sq. km) in the Bay of Bengal to protect and preserve the
breeding grounds of marine flora and fauna.
FISH PRODUCTION AND EXPORT TREND
Sector-wise total fish production of Bangladesh from
2000-01 to 2012-13, are presented in Table 2. The Table
reveals that in 2000-01 the total fish production was only
17, 81,057 tonnes and in 2012-13 it has increased to
34,10,254 tonnes. The growth rate of production is as
high as 5% to 7% per annum during this period. It is
found that the total fish production of the country shows a
consistently increasing trend during the last 25
yearsBangladesh exports frozen shrimp and other fish
and fisheries products to a number of developed
countries. The most important item of export is the frozen
shrimp/prawn. Frozen fish, dry fish, salted and
dehydrated fish, crab/eel, shark fin and fish maws are
also exported. For the last seven years Bangladesh has
also started exporting live fish in a limited scale. Table 3
presents quantity and value of fish and fish products
exported to different countries. The major markets for
frozen shrimp are USA, UK, Japan, Belgium,
Netherlands, Thailand, Germany, China, France,
Canada, Spain and Italy. In terms of quantity and value,
shrimp occupies the first position in the export basket

5. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Bangladesh: an overview of the present status, challenges and future potential
J. Fish. Aquacul. Res. 005
Table 2. Production of fish in Bangladesh.
(in tonnes)
Fisheries sector 2000-
01
2001-
02
2002-
03
2003-
04
2004-
05
2005-
06
2006-
07
2007-
08
2008-
09
2009-
10
2010-
11
2011-
12
2012-
13
A. Internal water
Body
14015
60
14750
39
15662
89
16468
19
174136
0
158487
3
195257
3
207236
5
218672
6
238191
6
251535
4
268316
2
28212
66
(1) Open water
Body
68892
0
68843
5
70933
3
73206
7
859269 956686 100676
1
106018
1
112392
5
102993
7
105458
5
957095 96145
8
i. River and
estuaries
15012
9
14359
2
13784
8
13733
7
139798 137859 136958 136812 138160 141148 144566 145613 14726
8
ii. Sundarban 12035 12345 13884 15242 15724 16423 17751 18151 18462 20437 22451 21610 15945
Iii iii. Beal 74527 76101 75460 74328 74925 76365 75137 77524 79200 79209 81568 85208 87902
iv. Kaptai lake 7051 7247 7025 7238 7379 7548 8085 8248 8590 7336 8980 8537 9017
v. v. Flooded land 44517
8
44915
0
47511
6
49792
2
621443 718491 768830 819446 879513 781807 79704 696127 70133
0
(2) Locked water
Body
71264
0
78660
4
85695
6
91475
2
882091 892049 945812 100554
2
106280
1
135197
9
146076
9
172606
7
18598
08
i. Pond 61582
5
68510
7
75205
4
79581
0
756993 759628 811954 866049 912178 114048
5
121973
6
134228
2
14465
94
ii. Seasonal cultured
water body (Flooded
land)
- - - - - - - - - 46902 51230 182293 20083
3
iii. Baor 3801 3892 4098 4282 4388 4498 4698 4778 5038 8727 4864 5186 6146
iv. Shrimp farm 93014 97605 10080
4
11466
0
120710 127923 129160 134715 145585 155866 184939 196306 20623
5
B. Sea water
body
37949
7
41542
0
43190
8
45507 474597 479810 487438 497573 514644 517282 546333 578620 58898
8
i. Trawler 23901 25165 27954 32606 34114 34184 35391 34159 35429 34182 41665 73386 73030
ii. Artisanal 35559
6
39025
5
40395
4
42260
1
440483 445726 452047 463414 479215 483100 504668 505234 51595
8
Total 17810
57
18904
59
19981
97
21020
26
221595
7
232854
5
244001
1
256329
6
270137
0
289919
8
306168
7
326178
2
34102
54
Annual production
increasing rate (%)
7.20 6.14 5.70 5.20 5.42 5.08 4.79 5.05 5.39 7.32 5.60 6.54 4.55
Source: DoF, 2014.

6. 6
Jahan et al. 006
-5000
05000
0
100000200000
TotalExport(QuantityinMetricTonnes)TotalExpo
ExportTrend (1983-2010)
Value(inc
Year
Figure 2. Export trend of quantity and value of fish and fisheries products.
Table 3. Exports of fish and fish-products from Bangladesh.
(Quantity in tonnes and Value in Crore Taka)
Year Frozen
shrimp/prawn
Live fish Frozen fish Dry fish Salted and
Dehydrated
fish
Turtles,
tortoises/
Crab/Eel
Shark fin
and
fish maws
Others Total % of
Total Export
Earning
Qty Value Qty ValueQty Value Qty ValueQty Value Qty Value Qty Value Qty ValueQty Value
2000/0129,713 1,885.15 - - 7,965 98.89 1372.02 838 27.73 154 2.33 181 20.63 - - 38,9882,032.75 5.77
2001/0230,209 1,447.76 - - 9,864 17.39 5178.32 293 9.53 336 7.07 263 27.07 - - 41,4821,637.14 4.76
2002/0336,864 1,719.88 - - 8,846 158.64 3337.02 526 19.12 630 14.58 172 22.35 - - 47,3711,941.59 5.10
2003/0442943 2152.77 10229 202.24 4724.16 377 1.38 116 1.39 4 1.53 54,1412,363.47 5.71
2004/0546533 228159 15763 256.20 2723.71 770 28.97 38 0.86 1 0.39 63,3772,571.72 5.90
2005/0649317 3698.35 57 0.48 17429 2949.14 1502.19 591 19.84 1,107 12.95 78 0.80 100 1.09 68,8293,029.84 4.56
2006/0753361 2992.33 4 0.07 18376 325.90 77 1.34 441 12.80 1,123 15.48 244 4.11 78 0.86 73,7043,352.89 4.90
2007/0849907 2863.92 10 0.15 23515 495.46 2102.67 658 26.97 439 4.88 266 1.82 294 0.41 75,2993,396.28 4.04
2008/0950368 2744.12 0.3 0.06 19294 450.89 34111.9984 3.92 1217 11.98 276 1.77 130818.7372,8883,243,41 3.00
2009/1051,5992,885.21178313.2221,464450.8.1162225.060 0 692 10.41 955 12.66 528 3.85 77,6433,408.52 2.72
2010/1154891 3568 0.60 0.04516742 491.0 6235.57 577 30.86 0.65 0.05 - - 194228.2096469 4603.67 2.72
2011/1248007 3640.20 0.46 0.04 15513 396.18 9969.43 411 27.46 0.45 0.04 - - - - 92479 4703.95 2.46
Source: DoF, 2013.
followed by frozen fish. Quantity and value trend of
fisheries export is shown in Figure 2. Both the quantity
and value curves display positive trend. The quantity of
export slightly fell after 1995-96 and rose thereafter.
Within this decade, in 1998-99 the export was the lowest.
Export quantity revived slowly thereafter up to 2009-10
and further rose again in recent years. Almost similar
pattern of movements in value of export are seen.

7. 7
J. Fish. Aquacul. Res. 007
Table 4. Production statistics of carp spawn/ fingerling from public and private hatcheries.
Year No. of hatcheries Spawn (tonne) No. of fry/ fingerlings (crore)
Public Private Public Private Total Public Private Total
2004 112 756 4.80 345.23 350.03 1.84 520.00 521.84
2005 112 731 5.13 315.89 321.02 2.08 461.03 463.11
2006 112 764 4.82 407.83 412.65 1.24 428.28 429.52
2007 115 860 6.24 457.29 463.53 2.03 622.13 624.16
2008 119 754 7.04 416.95 423.99 2.76 549.03 551.76
2009 119 735 4.52 459.80 464.32 1.67 960.01 961.68
2010 122 862 5.59 482.04 487.63 2.11 983.87 988.09
2011 125 845 6.84 617.64 624.48 2.12 818.21 820.33
2012 125 870 6.86 619.50 626.33 2.10 834.57 836.67
Source: BER, 2012.
PRODUCTION OF FISH SPAWN AND FINGERLINGS
The basic requirement for increasing fish production is
the availability of high quality fish fingerlings. The
production and collection of fry/fingerlings from natural
sources has declined due to climate changes and man-
made hindrances such as construction of unplanned
flood dam, irresponsible use of insecticides in the crop
fields, pollution of water, etc. At present, as many as 125
government hatcheries (fish seed multiplication farms)
along with 870 private hatcheries are operational to meet
the increasing demand of fingerlings. The production
statistics of fish spawn and fish fries both from public and
private sectors are shown in Table 4.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF FISHERIES
SECTOR
The 21
st
century reveals a fishery management process
experiencing unprecedented socioeconomic,
environmental, and institutional challenges. Over the last
fifty years, fisheries governance has rapidly evolved from
primarily open access to regulated common property and
rights-based institutions. The inland capture fisheries
sector faces habitat degradation through agricultural
development, urbanization, and development of
industries. The breeding ground for capture fishery
resources has been affected by many environmental and
man-made factors. Moreover, substantial industrialization
and urbanization cause water pollution problems that
subsequently affect the fisheries resources. The
opportunities for capture fisheries restoration and
rehabilitation may be realized by bringing an increasing
area under co-management where fisheries are managed
responsibly, optimizing the use of water bodies for fish
production and raising the voice of the sector during
environmental impact assessments.
The challenges are to gradually bring the small-scale
sector under co-management arrangements with the
long-term aim to control inputs and to reserve resources
for the small-scale sector through zoning. Aquaculture is
a growth sector in Bangladesh. There is still a vast
potential for development of the sector, but it will
increasingly meet resistance from and be competing with
agriculture. Pollution from fish farming and also the
impact of pollution on fish farming are becoming
important issues. Responsible development of the
aquaculture sector may cause a growth in availability of
high-value animal protein for the growing local population
as well as for an expanding export market.
Perspectives for the fishery sector over the coming
decade suggest that with the right mix of policy and
investment, the potential can be good, in spite of
increasing constraints, such as population pressure,
habitat destruction, construction and industrial
development, and environmental challenges. Based
primarily on growth in aquaculture and adding value to
the capture sector, increased output and corresponding
gains in value and employment could be envisaged. To
meet the required fish protein and to ensure the food
security of the increasing population, a pressure on
culture fisheries has already been noticed since capture
fishery production cannot be increased further. Figure 3
shows the population and fish production trend for last 25
years. It indicates that the gap between the population
and fish production is decreasing gradually which place a

8. 8
Jahan et al. 008
Figure 3. Population and fish production trend in Bangladesh
hope that the food security challenge can be addressed
successfully in terms of fish production in the 21
st
century. Moreover the upholding value addition of
fisheries products raises the expectation from this sector
both in terms of value and employment.
The production sectors of fisheries have now added the
networks of input supply, market and distribution, and
post-harvest value addition, particularly in the export
sector. These, in turn, involve substantial number of
people and generate significant economic output. Taken
overall, income and employment in the sector should
expand, and in sub-sectors growth are particularly likely
to be enhanced. The ultimate challenge is in transferring
benefits of this sector effectively to the stakeholders in
fisheries. A range of public and private sector
investments and initiatives will be needed to realise the
potential for change, growth and expanding economic
output. Though numerous constraints can be recognised,
the prospects for doing so are positive, and the recent
record of micro-scale and commercial private sector
enterprises, particularly in aquaculture, demonstrates the
emerging strength and potentially positive impact of this
sector as a whole.
DECLARATION
All authors would like to declare that they have read and
agreed to the content of the submitted article and there is
no conflict of interest among the authors and/or with the
publication ethics of the journal.
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Ali ML, Hossain MAR, Ahmed M. (2009). Impact of
Sanctuary on Fish Production and Biodiversity in
Bangladesh. Final Project Report. Bangladesh
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Accepted 22 August, 2016.
Citation: Islam MS, Jahan H, Al-Amin AKMA (2016).
Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Bangladesh: an
overview of the present status, challenges and future
potential. Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research,
1(1): 002-009.
Copyright: © 2016 Jahan et al. This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original author and source are cited.