The fisheries sector plays an important role in the economy and food security of Bangladesh. Natural conditions and geographical location have endowed Bangladesh with huge fisheries resources with the potential to boost fisheries production. The country’s fisheries resources are divided into two major groups: inland fisheries and marine fisheries. Inland fisheries occupy an area of 4.58 million hectares and marine capture covers 166,000 sq km. The potential of the inland fishery of Bangladesh is considered to be one of the highest in the world. Out of 4.05 million hectares of open water fisheries, the floodplains with an area of 2.8 million hectares offer tremendous scope and potential for augmenting fish production by adopting the aquaculture-based enhancement techniques.
The fisheries sector plays a vital role in the national economy in terms of income-generation, employment opportunities and nutrition. It serves as an important source of animal protein (58%) and the second highest foreign exchange earner (±7%) for the country, contributing a whopping 3.7% to the GDP.
Highlighting the significance of Blue Economy on September 1, 2014 at the Global Workshop on the Blue Economy’ in Dhaka, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that marine-based economic activities and administration of ocean and its assets could be gamechanger for a coastal nation like Bangladesh. Based on the Prime Minister’s vision, the Government of Bangladesh has developed a comprehensive plan to utilise the ocean resources in order to achieve the SDG goal 14 that commits countries to the protection of oceans and the lives that depend on it. Accordingly the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh has taken some initiatives.
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