BANGLADESH

The government has taken initiatives to buy a survey vessel to find out the current fish reserves in the Bay of Bengal, fisheries and livestock minister Abdul Latif Biswas has said.

The government has undertaken a Tk 1 billion 'Marine Fisheries Capacity Building Project' to make appropriate plans for breeding and development of fish, control fishing, as also to introduce proper management. A marine fisheries survey vessel is being bought for Tk 500 million as part of this project, he told .

According to Biswas, Islami Development Bank (IDB) and the Malaysian government are jointly financing the project.

The southern coast of Bangladesh has a huge reserve of fish and the total area of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Bay of Bengal is around 41,000 sq nautical miles, not much smaller than Bangladesh's land area, he said.

At present, about 170 trawlers and 50,000 machined and non-machined vessels are regularly involved in netting 475 different species of fish and 20 species of shrimps. But, he warned, sea fish reserves may run out due to over-fishing in near future, and their numbers would steadily decline soon.

Assistant director of marine fisheries department Mohammad Sharif said, "Fish reserve in the Bay of Bengal is not infinite; it is a renewable source. This property [fish] can be used for a long time if fished in line with directions that would follow the surveys."

Otherwise, he said, the stocks would continue to dip.

Officials of fisheries and livestock department and Marine Fisheries Capacity Building Project said they have given work order after consulting international tender to buy the survey vessel.

A fish survey is set to be conducted in the Bay of Bengal after almost 22 years once the ship arrives next year, officials said.

MARINE SURVEYS IN BANGLADESH

The first marine fisheries survey in the Bay was conducted after independence with Japan's assistance. Bangladesh got RV Onushondhani in 1982 and RV Maasranga in 1983 as grants. Surveys were conducted till 1990 with these two vessels and with assistance of the World Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

RV Maasranga sank in the Karnaphuli during the 1997 cyclone. Though it was recovered later, the vessel became useless and is at present stationed at the Bangladesh Fish Development Corporation's basin.

RV Onushondhani was also rendered useless by a technical glitch during a ground survey at the sea in 2001. From then, it is resting at the Karnaphuli dockyard.


VESSEL TRACKING MONITORING SYSTEM

Officials in the ministry said initiatives have been taken to buy Vessel Tracking Monitoring System (VTMS) to monitor trawlers in the Bay of Bengal.

Once VTMS is introduced, position of sea-bound fishing trawlers can be observed and controlled from the Chittagong Marine Fisheries Office. Moreover, it will be possible to restrict intrusion of foreign fishing vessels and illegal fishing in the Bay, officials said.

Marine fisheries contribute 3.74 percent of the country's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector also contributes 4.04 percent in the country's export income.