(29) There are a number of research faciliies in the country and additional ones are planned. What is required is a set of principles or guidelines on the basis of which the scope and programmes of the various institutions will be established in order to derive the maximum benefit from them. The following main principles are suggested:
(30) There will be three broad categories of activities that are to deal with the promotion of the economic development of the fisheries and fish culture sector, viz. research, extension and training. It will be the task of the FRI to conduct research.
This will cover the whole field of developing new techniques and solving practical problems with respect to the fisheries sector and adapting existing techniques to conditions prevailing in Bangladesh. In view of the requirement of cost-effectiveness and the present elementary stage of development of the sector, an important part of research will be adaptive research.
Research programmes and projects will aim at short-and medium-term practical results with a time span of a few years at most. Long-term fundamental research with no forseeable economic application on the short or medium term should not take place at the research stations of FRI but should be conducted at the universities.
(31) The requirement of cost-effectiveness, the scarcity of scientific and technical staff, and the limited availability of funds make it necessary to identify a limited number of research programmes with a high priority and to distribute these over the research stations while avoiding duplication of research. This will result in a reduced number of research facilities and staff and an increased effectiveness of research.
(32) The clients of research will be policy-making bodies, the extension service, and the processing and export industry. Policy-making bodies will need statistical, socio-economic and technical data for the establishment of rules, regulations and procedures. The extension service will be the channel through which the research findings will be made available to fishermen and fish-farmers. The research stations should, therefore, also serve as training and demonstration units for extension officers.
Research for industry is considered to have a low priority as it is largely able to look after its own affairs.
(33) Effective research cannot be conducted by staff which has not been sufficiently trained and exposed to the actual practice. Research staff will have to be trained, both overseas and on-the-job, and strict day-to-day guidance will have to be provided during the first few years of project implementation.
Effective research will result in experienced staff in various fields of specialization. These personnel will in turn be best qualified to train extension workers.
(34) The effectiveness of research programmes will depend on the actual application of the research findings by the clients, ultimately resulting in better statistics, increased production, improved product quality, etc. Programmes that do not meet basic standards of cost-effectiveness should be weeded out. For this purpose an institutionalized review an monitoring system should be established within the FRI, on the basis of which personnel, facilities, and funds are allocated to research programmes and/or projects.
(35) In fisheries research six general subjects can be distinguished, viz. production management, reproduction, feed and nutrition, health care, processing, and socio-economics. In Fig. 1 they are combined with the main production categories (mariculture, brackishwater culture, etc.) leading to 14 research areas. Each of them can be subdivided into numerous research projects, that deal with a specific part of the main area.
In Table 3 the research areas are listed, together with the projects identified for each of them. These projects show different levels of generalization, due to the differences in experience in the distinguished areas in Bangladesh. In some research areas projects aim at improvement of techniques already in use, whereas in other areas projects still have very general objectives.
(36) In Table 3 the identified projects have been given a starting priority rate of 1–3.
Starting rate 1 means that the project should and can start immediately in the available facilities of FRI, albeit sometimes in a somewhat preliminary manner, and provided that all staff are in place at the appropriate time.
Starting rate 2 means also that the project should start immediately, but absence of facilities or guidance prevent that start at this point in time (1986 production season).
Starting rate 3 indicates a somewhat lower starting priority.
Fig. 1. Research matrix.
This rating is partly based on the priority rating given in Table 2 (page 15) and partly on other considerations. Processing technology, for instance, is considered important, but as there is a full-scale processing research programme in progress at BCSIR in Dhaka this project is given a low starting priority. The projects of BCSIR (Institute for Food Science and Technology) and FRI with respect to processing of fish and shrimp should be co-ordinated. This requires much consultation and co-operation and should be considered a longterm objective.
(37) Generally, distinct research projects will be one-man jobs; some of them might be divided into subprojects in a later phase. For reasons of efficient research guidance and management, as well as for training purposes, related projects are grouped into programmes, see (79).
A complete schedule of research programmes and projects in the available facilities of FRI in 1986–87 is presented in Annex A. This schedule mentions the researchers (or advertized vacancies) to whom the projects are assigned, as well as the responsible research guiders (consultants).
The schedule includes a few projects that are not mentioned in Table 3, namely FARS B4 and B5, and RFRS F1. These projects are purely production oriented and incorporate the efficient use of available facilities; see also (51).
(38) For each project identified, objectives, justification, and expected outputs are determined so far only in a preliminary way. A detailed Research Project Proforma has been designed and distributed (Annex B) to the appropriate individuals. Completion of this Proforma is highly different for the various projects: a number of researchers have still to be employed and most of the technical research guiders are not yet available in Bangladesh. As soon as all Proformas have been completed in an adequate way they will be bundled and distributed as the 1986/87 working plan for FRI.
Anticipating this working plan, the main objectives of research have been summarized in Annex C for each of the identified programmes for FARS and RFRS, and for each of the preliminary planned programmes for the other stations.
(39) As other research organizations in Bangladesh, FRI is entitled to submit research proposals to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) for financing on a contract basis (Contract Research Funds). Such a proposal might consist of the completed FRI Research Project Proforma plus a number of BARC-forms, specifying foreseen activities and budgets.
Proposals for Contract Research funding are subject to a selection procedure. Preference will be given to “applied research of an inter-institutional and interdisciplinary nature, directed towards solving farming problems of national priority status”. Since FRI's research programme is largely based on practically identical criteria, many of its projects are eligible for such funding.
(40) FRI-programmes that have a multidisciplinary nature and that are not yet covered by funds from elsewhere, are:
Projects out of these programmes will be prepared for Contract Research funding requests as soon as the relevant Research Project Proformas have been completed.
Table 3 - Research areas, projects, and priorities
| Research area | Research project | Starting rate | ||
| 1 | Mariculture production management | 1.1 | Site survey pen and cage culture | 3 |
| 1.2 | Marine pen and cage technology | 3 | ||
| 1.3 | Pen and cage production systems | 3 | ||
| 1.4 | Site survey mollusc culture | 2 | ||
| 1.5 | Mollusc farming systems | 2 | ||
| 1.6 | Production of other marine species | 3 | ||
| 2 | Brackishwater production management | 2.1 | Production of penaeids | 2 |
| 2.2 | Production of Macrobrachium | 1 | ||
| 2.3 | Shrimp farming systems | 1 | ||
| 2.4 | Production other brackishwater spp. | 3 | ||
| 2.5 | Penaeids survey | 2 | ||
| 2.6 | Site analysis | 2 | ||
| 3 | Freshwater cage/pen production management | 3.1 | Site survey pen and cage culture | 2 |
| 3.2 | Pen and cage technology | 2 | ||
| 3.3 | Testing of production systems | 2 | ||
| 4 | Pond production management | 4.1 | Pond management (input manipulation) | 1 |
| 4.2 | Nursing systems (incl. transport) | 1 | ||
| 4.3 | Production of Hilsa | 1 | ||
| 4.4 | Production of small species | 1 | ||
| 4.5 | Production of catfish spp. | 1 | ||
| 4.6 | Production of other new species | 3 | ||
| 4.7 | Predator and competitor control | 1 | ||
| 4.8 | Fish-cum-duck culture | 1 | ||
| 4.9 | Fish-cum chicken culture | 1 | ||
| 4.10 | Use of pond embankments | 1 | ||
| 4.11 | Paddy-cum-shrimp culture | 1 | ||
| 4.12 | Paddy-cum-fish culture | 1 | ||
| 5 | Large freshwater bodies production management | 5.1 | Production ecology of Lake Kaptai | 1 |
| 5.2 | Production ecology of haors | 3 | ||
| 5.3 | Selective fishing | 3 | ||
| 6 | Riverine fisheries production management | 6.1 | Stock assesment and population dynamics of Hilsa and carps | 1 |
| 6.2 | -do- of Macrobrachium | 1 | ||
| 6.3 | Survey reproduction areas | 1 | ||
| 6.4 | Environmental aspects | 1 | ||
| 6.5 | Adaptive gear development | 1 | ||
| 7 | Marine fisheries production management | 7.1 | Stock assessment marine species | 3 |
| 7.2 | Adaptive gear development | 3 | ||
| 7.3 | Marine ecology | 2 | ||
| 7.4 | Survey of non-used resources | 2 | ||
| 8 | Reproduction marine and brackishwater species | 8.1 | Reproduction of Macrobrachium | 1 |
| 8.2 | Reproduction of penaeids | 2 | ||
| 8.3 | Reproduction other brackishwaterspecies | 3 | ||
| 8.4 | Reproduction of marine species | 3 | ||
| 8.5 | Hatchery systems development | 2 | ||
| 9 | Reproduction freshwater | 9.1 | Carp broodstock management (incl. hybridization) | 1 |
| 9.2 | Reproduction of catfishes | 1 | ||
| 9.3 | Reproduction of small species | 1 | ||
| 9.4 | Reproduction of Hilsa | 1 | ||
| 9.5 | Reproduction of other new species | 3 | ||
| 9.6 | Hatchery systems development | 1 | ||
| 10 | Nutrition and feed | 10.1 | Ingredients survey | 1 |
| 10.2 | Analysis of ingredients | 1 | ||
| 10.3 | Feed technology | 2 | ||
| 10.4 | Feed application | 2 | ||
| 10.5 | Diet testing | 2 | ||
| 10.6 | Development complete diet feeds | 3 | ||
| 11 | Health care marine and brackishwater species | 11.1 | Survey of diseases and parasites | 2 |
| 11.2 | Testing local drugs | 2 | ||
| 12 | Health care freshwater species | 12.1 | Survey of diseases and parasites | 1 |
| 12.2 | Testing local drugs | 1 | ||
| 12.3 | Toxicity rice pesticides | 1 | ||
| 13 | Processing | 13.1 | Quality aspects | 3 |
| 13.2 | Processing technology | 3 | ||
| 13.3 | Marketing | 3 | ||
| 14 | Socio-economics | 14.1 | Economic models production systems | 1 |
| 14.2 | Evaluation Tanks Enforcement Act | 1 | ||
| 14.3 | Development/evaluation extension programmes | 1 | ||
| 14.4 | Feasibility aquaculture opportunities | 1 | ||
| 14.5 | Public water stocking | 1 | ||
| 14.6 | Co-operatives | 3 | ||
| 14.7 | Development of rules and regulations | 3 | ||
| 14.8 | Credit systems | 3 | ||
