Lessons and Experience in Inland Fisheries Management and the Impact on Consumption of Fish

The diversity of fish consumed in Bangladesh is a key aspect of diet and culture. Although total fish production in Bangladesh has been rising due to aquaculture, there are widespread concerns for loss and overexploitation of floodplain capture fisheries. The two are not effectively the same, because the resulting diversity of fish differs under each circumstance, as does access to fish and resources. Despite the leasing system, poor households can catch small fish in seasonal floodplains, but access to these resources has fallen due to loss of fish habitat, competition with agriculture, and enclosure for aquaculture. Pond aquaculture is largely practiced by pond owners and is not an option for the poor. Aquaculture produces mostly carp, which poor households cannot easily buy, and which contribute fewer micronutrients than do small fish. Sustainable management of fishery resources through community participation is crucial to preserve and restore the fisheries of rivers, beels, and floodplains. INTRODUCTION Fish have been an integral part of the life of the people of Bangladesh from time immemorial and play a major role in the economy and in nutrition. The fisheries sector provides full-time employment to an estimated two million fishers, small fish traders, fish transporters, and packers (World Bank 1989), and another 10 million people are partly dependent on fishing—for example, they undertake parttime fishing mainly for subsistence (BFRSS 1986). The sector contributes about 5.5 percent of gross domestic product, 18 percent of the gross agricultural product, and 6 percent of export earnings. There has been a gradual decline in the production of fish from inland capture fisheries during the past three decades. The contribution of inland open waters was 41 percent in 1998–99, whereas the contribution from open water was 63 percent in 1983– 84 (DOF 2001). Aquaculture’s contribution has grown to over 30 percent (Figure 1). This chapter discusses the issues and experiences in community management of inland