The Socioeconomic characteristics of small-scale fishing communities in Ebrahimpur and Allor Bazar of Chandpur District in terms of various indicators are summarised below.
These traditional fishing communities live in villages in areas close to the bank of the river, generally at the very edge of the landmass where land is least productive and subject to erosion. Exposure to tidal action of the river and floods is high. The fishing village goes under water due to flooding and fishermen believe that the government could take action to provide flood control construction. About 70–80% have no reasonable home or adequate housing. The community is overcrowded, so are individual houses, which are semipermanent structures, generally mud huts with thatched roofs. Some 25 percent are homeless and live on the boat. Supplies of potable water at close proximity are rare while basic sanitation facilities are inadequate, almost non-existent. For example, fishermen's families use water from the river to wash and drink as only one well is available to 200 families. As a result, cases of diarrhoea are frequent but the nearest diarrhoea clinic is 50 kilometres away. Doctors are not accessible and no family planning are available. The fishermen interviewed felt that government had not taken any action to improve living conditions in the rural areas and almost 100% of fishermen live in rural areas.
With low income and educational levels, fishing communities in the region generally have a low status in society. They are regarded as socially inferior to those engaged in most other occupations.
There is conflict between relatively better-off fishermen and poor fishermen, who are attacked by the latter at night fishing when tidal comes and the current is slow, conditions favourable for better catch.
The fishing community are poorly served in the areas of health, education and community welfare. Diarrhoea is rather frequent due to drinking river water where they also bathe. The nearest clinic for treatment of diarrhoea is in Matlab Thana which is 50 kilometres away. There are only 3 primary schools for 70,000 inhabitants and no high school in the area (Ebrahimpur and Allor Bazar). The education of the youngsters in the fishing communities does not continue to a desirable level. Their families cannot afford the cost of education or the manpower loss that education entails for their fishing operations. Further roads, electricity, postal and telecommunications facilities are extremely inadequate. For example the fishing communities in Chandpur District who are not near District Headquarters, that is, the majority of fishing communities in the area do not have access to electricity.
The incomes of the fishing communities are generally below the poverty line, specially during the lean period (December-June). They simply cannot catch sufficient fish to survive and this results in malnutrition and further indebtedness. Within a fishing community, incomes are uneven, and disparities are frequently very high, specially between poorly equipped fishermen and those with mechanised boats. Due to seasonality in fishing, incomes are not evenly spaced throughout the year. the lean (December-June) and the peak (July-November) periods each last 6 months. This uneven pattern of earnings leads to indebtedness. They do not receive any benefits from improved technology as it is beyond their reach, otherwise they could benefits from income-generating activities such as agriculture, poultry, cattle, etc.
Patterns of ownership and settlement vary widely for immovable property such as land and houses. Some fishermen are migrants, for example those with mechanized boats, some are temporary occupants of land, some hold short-term leases, some are tenants, a few are owners. The majority of fishermen are landless and 25 percent are homeless. A common feature in most of these arrangements is that the land is small, usually unproductive.
Likewise, there are many variations in the ownership character of boats and fishing gear. There is individual ownership, part ownership and cooperative ownership. It is believed that only a small portion (around 30 percent) of fishermen own their boats. Many of the larger, powered craft and gear are owned by individuals not actively engaged in fishing. Many members of fishing community are hired employees. They possess no assets themselves, and engaged in fishing for wages or for a share of the catch. The fishermen interviewed were of the opinion that some form of cooperative and loan system should be developed to acquire fishing gear and boat.
The power structure of fishing communities is linked to the ownership of such assets as land, fishing gear etc. Outsiders who are in a position to influence the prices of fish catch or control the supply of credit or distribution and marketing, also wield power.
Fishing communities have not been able to produce a sufficient number of leaders who can represent or further their interests. However, in communities where political consciousness is high, a few leaders have emerged.
On paper, number of agencies (cooperatives associates etc) exist, covering a wide spectrum of activity concerning fishermen--supplies of inputs, fishing operations, fish processing and marketing. But the functioning of these agencies leaves much to be desired, and the fishing community is poorly represented in them, particularly at the level of decision-making. In Government organization too, the fishing community is very inadequately represented, this tells on the services offered to the fishing community by these organizations.
Women are not active partners in actual fishing operations, but they are sometimes engaged in making nets.
The fishermen cooperatives in Chittagong District do not function any longer. They only rent out marketing sites. The boat owner sells 100% of the catch through FCA (Fish Commission agents) who would charge 5% as handling charges (weighing etc.):
| Hilsa | at TK. | 15.00 per Kg. |
| Pomfret (black) | at TK. | 80.00 per Kg. |
| Pomfret (white) | at TK. | 120.00 per Kg. |
| Pomfret (Ruckchanda) | at TK. | 140.00 per Kg. |
| Indian Salmon | at TK. | 100.00 per Kg. |
FCA, either through middlemen or directly, would sell the catch to wholesalers, exporters and retailers.
Marine fishermen interviewed in Chittagong District, using Gill net, catch 560 kg for 16 days of fishing effort this year (1994) compared to 2800 kg for 8–10 days of fishing effort last year (1993). The earnings over the last 6 months from marine fishing activities amounted to TK. 70,000 for 16-men crew. The net income, that is revenue minus expenses (for petrol, repairs, ice, etc.), is divided in 10/16 (62.5%) and 6/16 (37.5%) proportions between the boat owner and the crew.
Marine fishermen (interviewed at Cox's Bazar BFDC Landing centre), have, on average, an annual income of TK. 25,000, 70% of which is earned in peak period and the remaining 30% in lean period. On average, they spent TK 15,000 (60%) on food and TK 10,000 (40%) on non-food items of expenditure. For gillnet in this area, there are two sharing options: (a) Risk option and (b) non-risk option. These sharing systems are as follows:
Risk option (of gillnet sharing system): After deduction of all expenses the remainder, if any, is divided equally (50%–50%) between the boat owner and the crew. In the case of loss, the crew would bear 50% of the losses (sometimes rubbers rub the catch using motorized boats) and thus a risky option for the fishermen.
Non-risk option (of gillnet sharing system) : Before deducting expenses the catch is divided 60%–40% between the boat owner (60%) and the crew (40%) and the boat owner pays for the expenses out of his own share of the catch.
The boat owner determines which option to apply. Fishermen prefer the non-risk option (b) but the boat owner rarely uses this option. The boat owner keeps the accounts. He also keeps the gross income of the total catch for 7–10 days then he divides.
| Lean period | Peak period | |
| Fishing effort (days on the sea) | 7–10 | 3–4 |
| Average catch (TK) | 35,000 | 90,000 |
| Boat expenses (TK) | 15,000 | 7,500 |
| Net Income (TK) | 20,000 | 82,500 |
Boat owner (TK) | 10,000 | 41,250 |
The 16-man crew (TK) | 10,000 | 41,250 |
1 Captain (3 parts) | 1,622 | 6,689 |
1 Driver (1.5 parts) | 810 | 3,345 |
14 fishermen (1 part each) | 7,568 | 31,216 |
(per fisherman) | 540 | 2,230 |
The fishermen of the crew interviewed had an average family size of 6. It is rather rare that the members of the crew are relatives. Meanwhile the fish trader (assembler) interviewed at the same landing centre, had made a net profit of TK 200,000 in a period of 2 months (December 1993 - January 1994).
Fishermen fish all year round compared to 9 months in Cox's Bazar. Crew size is 8. Every fisherman own their own net and share the catch on the basis of net size. The captain has a bigger net and they combine. The maximum net size for each crew and boat owner are as follows:
All operational cost (fuel, food, etc.) paid by the owner. All the risks are borne by the owner.
Fishermen remain in sea for 10–12 days. Collection is done 4 times (2 collections per day and 2 per night) based on tidal system. Fishing is done for 20 days per month all year round. Sometimes the fishermen are attacked by the Burmese security men disguised as fishermen over the border near St. Martin and take away the set-bag net. This happens at night and sometimes take the boat and fishermen and ask for money for their release. This is true of other net fishing in the area.
There are two sharing systems:
Non-contract option:
10/16 goes to the owner who pays for all expenses.
6/16 goes to the 4-man crew consisting 1 captain who gets 1.5 parts and 3 fishermen, each has 1 part share.
Contract system:
TK 1,200 per 2 high tides per fisherman.
TK 1,600 per 2 high tides for the captain.
The sharing arrangements are 40% to the boat owner and 60% to the 12-man crew who divide in 14 equal shares and distribute as follows: 2.5 parts to the captain, 1.5 parts to the long-line operator, and 1 part to each of the 10 fishermen.
In Cox's Bazar, fishermen come mostly from the neighbouring districts and some stay temporarily on the boat and others return home. Most are landless and the land of those who have is too small a plot of land and certainly not sufficient to provide food. Family size vary between 7–8 and even for those who have no children the family size is not small because they have to take care of brothers and sisters etc. The crew leader (captain) earns three times higher than the fishermen of the crew and this is reflected in his better housing conditions (usually a wooden house). The captain interviewed had to take care of his wife, 4 children, 2 brothers and 1 sister, i.e. a family size of 9. Shallow water tubewell available in Cox's Bazar but it is not sufficient in the neighbouring districts. On the whole, fishermen who live in Cox's Bazar or near other district Headquarters are relatively better-off than those who live in remote places.
In peak period, the fisherman's earnings are not always sufficient to save for the lean period. Thus, during the lean period, fishermen have to resort to other supplementary activities, e.g. carpentry etc., or to borrow money from boat owner hoping to recover it during the peak period. In Cox's Bazar, almost all fishermen work for a share of the catch. Some kind of auction system determines the price of the fish. There is no association for fishermen and the fact that they come from different districts they do not form such associations. The women are involved in processing activities as well as fry collection but have no role in fish marketing or net repair.
In this village, women are sometimes hired for fish-drying activities and paid TK 30 for 12 hours of work compared to TK 60 for men hired for the same type of activities and for the same number of hours of work.
one tubewell is available for 7–8 families and nearest hospital is 7 miles away. There is 1 primary school run by the government and 1 madresseh. Some school age children do not go to school, for example, some 12-year old boys may not have had any schooling. They need embankment to secure their living quarters against land erosion.
There is some linkage between the fishermen of this village and fish-processing plant for export, taking fish by boat to the cold storage of the vehicle of the plant in Teknaf.
There are 60 set bagnets in the area with small mesh size. It is interesting to notice that some of the set bagnet fishermen are now aware of the cause of stock decrease, so are prepared for any help to change to other safer nets.
The sharing arrangement of set bagnet are as follows: After deducting the expenses, the boat owner takes 50% and the remaining 50% goes to the 5-man crew, with 1.5 parts for the captain and 1 part for each of the 4 fishermen (no drivers).
(The boat owner interviewed at Cox's Bazar BFDC Landing Centre was One of the Directors of the Association of the Boat Owners):
A new boat fully equipped costs TK 1.8 million. Total amount of catch for 1 year fishing (practically 9 months) would be TK 30 million on average. Deducting the total annual running expenses of TK 1.8 million the total annual net income of the boat owner would be TK 1.2 million per boat. the working life of the boat varies between 8–10 years. Boat owners do not pay for any loss of life. In the 1991 cyclo (20 April) 80% of the boats badly damaged and the remainder needed repair due to the cyclo. Government promised rehabilitation which is still awaited.
There are 10 jewfish varieties but only 4 varieties are exported and in the case of red sniffer fish which has 4 varieties only one variety exported. The peak period (October - December) is followed by the lean period (January - March) and The dry fish processing closes for April - August period.
The processing procedures are as follows:
Turn-over of the plant is in region of TK 100 million. The plant employs 1 manager (TK 6,000/month), 1 accountant (TK 3,500 /month), 5 officers (TK 2,500/month each), 3 clerks (TK 1,500–2,000 /month each) and 3 (illiterate) supervisors (TK 3,500 /month). There are 100 permanent workers (TK 1,700–2,000 /month) and 200 daily labourers (TK 60–70 /8–9 hours day) employed at peak period in one plant and 10 permanent workers and 10 daily labourers are engaged during the lean period. For the permanent ones, housing as well as food are provided. There are no women among the permanent labour force but 50% of daily labourers are women who, for the same daily wage, are better workers than men as they are more dedicated to their work. At the peak period there is competition for labour as it coincides with peak period of other processing plants.
In Mongla Thana, 50% of the inhabitants used to be fishermen but now 75% are fisherment, 40% of them are Hindu, 35% are Muslims and 25% Christian. Hindu fishing communities are relatively better off because they have fertile land and therefore do not rely entirely on fishing for their living. Religious conflicts are very rare.
Christian fishermen: They are mostly Christian fishermen. They have no land. Earnings from fishing activities are the main source of income.
Marine and Brackishwater river fishing: When marine fishing (November - March) not possible they go for Brackishwater river fishing (April - October).
Exposure to flooding and cyclo: They are exposed to flooding and cyclo which destroy their houses and they have to rebuild it through NGOs, government and other agencies which provide help: Bamboo fencing, tin roof, drinking glasses, plates, cooking facilities, rice, wheat, biscuit, blankets, clothing, medicine, etc. It takes between 3–7 days before this type of help comes with the use of trawlers and country boats depending on the accessibility of the villages. During the first 3–7 days before any help expected they take loan from well off villagers or moneylenders.
Drinking water is supplied mainly from pond water because salinity of shallow tubewell water is high and deepwell is costly. There is only a pump supplied by the NGO (World Vision) to pump water from the pond to a concrete tank with a filter system built in for drinking purpose. The NGO (World Vision) has provided these facilities to many fishing villages in Mongla Thana.
Bathing: They bathe in the river. Each family has a small pond/ditch used for bathing by women.
Health Services: There is “village doctor” with 1 year training. There are Mongla Government Hospital and Christian Missionary Hospital which serve a distance of 20 kilometres.
Educational services: there is a primary school in the village and a high school in the Mongla town. Most children go to school but some poor children do not go to school. In the absence of the missionary school and NGO help only 5% would have gone to school. The Missionary school provides free items such as clothing, books, pen, treatment by missionary doctor, etc.
Social Status: With low income and educational levels, fishing communities in the Thana generally have a low status in society. They are regarded as inferior to those engaged in most other occupation. Hindu fishermen marry among themselves but many Muslims and Christians marry neighbouring peasants.
Income and expenditure: The peak period for fishing income from marine fishing is November - December and from brackishwater river fishing is June - August. The crew consists of captain, 1 driver and 8 fishermen who work for a fixed wage of: TK 40 per day plus food for fishermen and TK 1,500 per day plus food for the driver. The captain pays for all expenses. The money lender charges 40% interest rate for a 6-month loan. 10% of captains own their own boat, 30% own land which they lease out for shrimp farming and paddy production and 100% own their fishing gears. 30% of the fishermen are migrant and this ratio is increasing.
There are 300 fishermen's families in this village with average family size of 7, varying between 3–18, including parents of the family head. They are all fulltime fishermen.
Housing: All of them own the house they live in. Their house are overcrowded and exposed to flooding and natural hazards and so get partially destroyed. They do not get any help from NGOs, government or any other source.
Basic sanitation is not available to all.
Social status: Social status of fishermen is low not necessarily due to low income or education. For example, one fisherman has studied through support of his family to qualify as engineer and made some money through engine transaction for motorized boats and now has 5 fish-processing factories but cannot marry to class higher than fishermen class.
Social services: For drinking water, there are 22–30 shallow tubewells for 300 families. There are 2–3 qualified doctors near the village and also have access to Government Health Complex. Primary and secondary schools are available. All children of school age go to school and work part time in fishing activities. After 6–7 years of schooling they go fishing full time. Electricity is available in the village but there are certain restrictions, for example, only those who are within 100 feet of the electricity line can have it otherwise it would become prohibitively expensive to have it.
Income: average income of the fishermen is just enough to manage but some live below poverty line. Within the fishing community incomes are uneven and disparities are quite wide. During the peak season (October - December) some portion of income is saved in the bank, which will be withdrawn from the bank during the lean period. Marine (deep sea) fishing is done during October-February, river (brackishwater) fishing between May and September and there are no fishing activities during the period March - April.
Catch and its marketing: The marine catch is sold in deep sea with no middlemen involvement but the river catch is sold on the spot to the middlemen. The prices and the catch for peak and lean periods are summarized below for both marine and river (brackishwater) fishing.
| Marine fishing: | Peak time catch | 37,470 kg |
| Lean time catch | 7,494 kg | |
| Price | TK 35–40 per kg | |
| River fishing: | Peak time catch | 4,684 kg |
| Lean time catch | 1,124 kg | |
| Price | TK 52–55 per kg |
Sharing system: A crew consists of 1 captain, 1 driver and 10 fishermen. 35% of captain own boats, 15% of captains hire boats and 50% of captains are appointed by the boat owner on contract basis of 3 different types and each is followed at 70%, 20% and 10% frequency respectively:
Contract Type 1: Catch is divided 50%–50% between the boat
owner and the crew after expenses are
deducted. The sharing system among the crew
members are as follows:
captain: 2 parts
driver: 2 parts
fisherman: 1 part for each;
Contract Type 2: Boat owner gets 100% of the catch but pays
fixed wages to:
captain: TK 1,800 per month plus food
driver: TK 1,500 per month plus food
fisherman: TK 800–900 per month plus food.
Contract Type 3: Captain pays fixed amount to the boat owner
(TK 40,000 – 50,000) and in the case of
losses, they are borne by the crew
according to their share:
captain: 2 parts
driver: 2 parts
fisherman: 1 part for each;
Nets: Chandi Jal (a type of gillnet) is used to catch Hilsa fish in deep sea fishing and shorter version is used on country boat in river fishing.
Cooperative of Fulltime Fishermen: There is a cooperative of 73 members with the following features:
There is Japanese aid (TK 11.3 million) for fishermen's cooperatives to construct boat, net, purchase engine and for working capital (e.g. this cooperative would get 2 boats which are under construction, fishing gear and engines).
Women's role in the fishing community: Women are not active partners in actual fishing operations but they have some incomegenerating activities such as garment-making.
Semi-intensive shrimp farming creates jobs and foreign exchange earnings but it is proceeding at slower rate due to lack of facilities such as electricity, communication, etc., shortage of shrimp fries, and sufficient number of well-established hatcheries yet to be developed.
The land use pattern are as follows: 50% produce shrimp and salt, 40% produce shrimp only, and remaining 10% are equally divided among the rice (only), salt (only), and the mix (shrimp and rice) producers. 20–30% of shrimp farming area belongs to the government which can be used for leasing purposes. Salt peak period is January-May and shrimp peak period is May- October.
The major points of the interview are presented below:
The traditional shrimp farming started in 1988/89 but damaged by cyclo of 1991 and no compensation provided by the government.
The production of the traditional shrimp farmers is declining but they do not know why. The government officers have not yet analysed whether it is due to decrease in salinity. Apparently it is due to physio-chemical and environmental factors. Tecnaf Thana Fisheries Officer has not yet taken samples to test.
In this union, about 275 acre of land is traditional shrimp farming and no semi-intensive shrimp farming has started.
Semi-intensive shrimp farming needs electricity and government does not provide electricity to the Union as the result traditional method of shrimp farming continues.
The existing shrimp farms are too small. Most (80%) of the area in this union are government properties. Traditional shrimp farmers have pursued their applications to obtain lease for semi-intensive shrimp farming since 1989 when they first applied but as yet no decision has been made on these applications. Whereas three brothers of the same influential family obtained long lease as soon as they applied.
The delay grant lease to these traditional farmers is the major issue because, in the absence of a (long) lease, these farmers cannot have a farm big enough for improved or semi-intensive shrimp culture, or security of tenure for long term investment. If they get long lease they can also get credit from the bank using their own land as collateral. Otherwise they would continue with the traditional method of shrimp culture as the land they currently own is too small for this type of investment. This problem applies to the whole of Teknaf Thana.
Training is needed for semi-intensive shrimp farming. the project (IDA/DOF), which started some years ago, is supposed to provide training but not yet provided to this Union. The appropriate technology has to be developed through research for shrimp culture demonstration and training.
women and Children participate in collecting shrimp seeds (postlarvae). Collections during the rainy season are about 2000/person/day compared to 1000/person/day. The price varies between TK 25–40 per 100. About 80% of shrimp seeds are collected in Cox's Bazar but 80% of shrimp farming area are in Khulna region. Thus most of the shrimp seeds collected in Cox's Bazar are transported to Khulna region as the price in Khulna can be as high as TK 130 per 100 shrimp seeds. The nets used for shrimp seed collection are mosquito nets which are two types: the stationary and the push nets.
The local seed collectors believe that 90% of the shrimp seed collectors in Cox's Bazar are from the non-coastal districts. along the coast one could observe many temporary types of accommodation arrange by the shrimp seed collectors.
Almost all shrimp seed collectors get credit from middlemen to sell at a lower price to middlemen. Some do seed collecting for the period March- May when the demand is high and then for the rest of the year seeking work as general labourers.
Impact study needs to conducted on the environmental as well as socioeconomic consequences for shrimp seed collectors in the case of development of hatcheries. Some income-generating activities have to be provided.
There are no government-run nurseries but 3 private-run nurseries and 1 more under construction.
The following are the major observations:
The plant has 8–10 million/day capacity. The nursery has 3 other centres in Teknaf.
Sometimes they are kept for up to 2 months depending on the demand. for the Grameen Bank, for example, post larvae are kept for 15–20 days to the size of 20–35mm.
Shrimp seed (post larvae) prices are as follows:
| Collector price (TK/100) | Middleman price (TK/100) | Nursery price (TK/100) | |
| 1993 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| 1994 | 30 | 60 | 110 (new contracts) |
Transit by truck costs TK 6/100.
Mortality rate goes up as salinity comes down:
| Salinity rate | Mortality rate | |
| Cox's Bazar Satkhira | 32/1000 | 5–10% |
Dry season | 25/1000 | 10–15% |
Rainy season | 12/1000 | 20–40% |
Shortage of shrimp seeds: With development of semi-intensive shrimp farming, the demand for post-larvae would increase. Commercial trawlers are catching mother shrimps even in peak breading season (December- January). Other fishing activities use wrong nets (e.g. set bagnets) killing the juveniles.
Credit announced by the government through government commercial banks 3 months ago has not been received yet.
There must be some acknowledgement of government initial help and technical support given to the Pioneer Hatchery which was further boosted by the Taiwan technical expertise.
It took considerable time to persuade the GOB to bring technology from Taiwan (there was no diplomatic relations at the time). TK 40 million was invested (equity was TK 2 million, Loan TK 9 million and own money TK 29 million).
Technology transfer is still needed as it is still a new industry.
Hatcheries are needed in order To help shrimp farmers. Between 10– 20 hatcheries will be needed.
It is difficult to get spawner. The private sector is not interested in spawner so government has to do it. The government, however, has only one vessel, if pioneer wants to use it, it has to pay the whole cost of sending government ship but the government does not always give permission. The total cost of using government ship is between TK 400,000 and TK 500,000 for 7 days. Trawlers catch spawners but they are weak and infected. Matching the captive ones are rather difficult for Bangladesh. However, it is done in Taiwan. Hiring option is recommended concerning vessels for research as well as private sector use for spawner.
Production: 15 million in March 1993. Spawn collection is the bottleneck. It takes 1 month from collection to (January, February and March) production. April is usually late, but in Khulna January-February production will be used. However, not many trucks are equipped to do the 20–24 hours journey keeping temperature low by adding ice. It takes 48 hours to reduce salinity for Khulna. That can be accommodated but there is risk of accidents in transit and question arises who pays for the loss. For administrative problems, air transportation is not feasible especially for the reason of different points of delivery.
In nature from 600,000 eggs a year (in one female maximum 3 spawn a year) only 60 eggs become adult. Nature, through producing so many and only a few surviving, provides a balance in the wild life as well as potential growth through advance technology.
A joint venture Scientific shrimp culture (project of Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh).
The shrimp farmer owns the land and has a generator on the farm land. Once a year the ponds are cleaned to balance the PH of the soil at the bottom. This is done only in the dry season, after the 2 crops yield in 1 year. On this farm no nursery is done as they used to.
From post-larvae to reasonable market size it takes 120 days to 140 days for 1 crop. Prices vary according to the market sizes:
| Market size (headless) | Price | Farming days required |
| (26–30)/kg | TK 160/kg | 100 days |
| (21–25)/kg | TK 240/kg | 120 days |
| (16–20)/kg | TK 350/kg | 140 days |
Manpower:
1.5/acre permanent (no women)
3 /acre casual (50% women for beheading the shrimps)
TK 2–3/kg of beheaded shrimps is paid to female worker. 100kg can be done by adult women.
Employment period:
June - December in semi-intensive
May - September in traditional farms.
Ponds capacity and utilization:
22 ponds covering 28 acre of water area.
3.5 million shrimp post-larvae for 1 crop.
7.0 million shrimp post-larvae for 2 crops.
It takes 15 days to be supplied but between 2–3 days for each pond
otherwise cannibalism results due to differences in sizes of postlarvae
(if supply period is too long)
Feed: 25% animal feed.
There is social tension among small farmers with no capital to invest.
No security of tenureship beyond 10 years (at least 30 years of lease is needed for semi-intensive farming investment.
Cooperative approach to get credit for capital-intensive investment (generators, intake system, etc.) in semi-intensive farming. About 60% of investment is capital intensive.
In response to the environmental degradation, with high yields of semi-intensive shrimp culture, compared to traditional, government can afford to allocate more land to afforestation.
In some cases government increased the lease from 1 year to 10 years but it is still too short for semi-intensification.
In Cox's Bazar salinity is high and 2 crops can be done but there is less land is available whereas in Khulna there is more land but salinity is low and so is the yield.
For semi-intensive shrimp farming 10 acres of land is sufficient.
The 1991 cyclo damages were about TK 10 million but no insurance was available then. Now insurance covers the machinery but no crop insurance is available.
Shrimp post-larvae price goes down as it becomes more available in full moon time but the price increases as it is less available in new moon.
The demand for post-larvae is increasing gradually but due to unusual climatic variation supply has gone down so the price has gone up rather rapidly from TK 12 per 100 (from middlemen) in 1993 to TK 60 per 100 in 1994.
If Domestic production of artificial feed (fish feed) will not be a bottle neck for increase in semi-intensive farm but post-larvae will be a bottleneck. 3–4 billion post-larvae is produced but mortality rate is high due to transportation, harvesting, bad pond management, change in salinity of water and other water quality management.
There is no extensive shrimp farming in Khulna region but only partially improved (80–90%), traditional (10–20%) shrimp farming and semi-intensive shrimp farms are as follows: 1 in Dacope, 1 in Satkhira, 1 in Paikgacha (under construction), 1 in Rampal (under construction) and 4 in Dacope (under construction). In Paikgacha, almost 100% of the remaining shrimp farms are partially improved shrimp farms. Partially improved shrimp farms use unbalanced low cost feed (rice bran mustard/coconut oil cake). There is no shrimp farm in Jassore District whereas Bagerhat District has 2,066 brackishwater shrimp farms (Bagda) and 3,652 freshwater shrimp farm (golda), a land area of 105,660 acres (42,264 ha) in total. The Second ADB Aquaculture Development Project has provided 4 extension officers, 1 in Cox's Bazar District and 3 in Khulna region: 1 in Bagerhat District, 1 in Khulna District and 1 in Satkhira District.
Partially Improved shrimp farm: Kaji Azizul Karim Shrimp Farm (Paikgacha)
Traditional shrimp farming by a group of small landowners (Bagerhat District)
This is an example where small land owners with adjacent plots of land form a group to go for conflict-free shrimp farming:
The land area of the farm is 20 ha belonging to 38 landowners;
It is a traditional shrimp farm with paddy as the main crop and shrimp as the secondary crop.
At present, no credit is obtained but if they go for improved (extensive) or semi-intensive shrimp farming they would need credit.
They are aware that the government intends to build an embankment to keep saline water away and reduce damage caused by flooding (as part of Flood Action Plan). In that case, they would go for freshwater shrimp farming and paddy. Then they would go for semi-intensive shrimp farming and for that they would ask for credit.
Traditional shrimp farm (single landowner) Mongla Thana (Bagerhat District)
This shrimp farmer who owns 100% of the farm land managed to get all the required shrimp seeds when it was more available whereas in his other farm, where he has the lease for 90% of the farm and many conflicts with the other party who has leasehold of the remaining 10%, only 20% of the required shrimp seeds were obtained at a much higher price at a time when less was available due to disruption of the on-time release of shrimp fries. The following are his net profits from his own farm:
The net profit from 1 crop a year shrimp farming is TK 27,500 per ha;
The net profit from paddy production: TK 13,500 per ha.1
The reason why he has not gone to extensive or semi-intensive shrimp farming is because he does not have the technical know-how.
Partially improved traditional shrimp farm (Single ownership), Mongla Thana, Bagerhat District
This partially improved traditional shrimp farm of 12 ha is owned by one person, Mr. Taposh.
In 1993, production of brackishwater shrimp (Bagda), other shrimps and fish resulted in a net profit 10 times higher than that of paddy production.
Because of the much higher rate of net profit from shrimp production the 1994 production plan is to go for 2 crop a year shrimp culture.
Over the years paddy production has been decreasing due to salinity and siltation from brackishwater shrimp farming.
No embankment against flood has been implemented here.
Semi-intensive shrimp farm: S&M Shrimp Culture Ltd. (Dacope Thana, Khulna District):
This is a semi-intensive shrimp farm with 7 nursery ponds and 13 growth ponds with a water area of 11 ha. Only 1 crop per year of Bagda is produced due to salinity problem. Freshwater shrimp (golda) has been tried but the yield was low because of salinity disturbance which caused eye disease in shrimps. This year production has not started yet (early April) due to non-availability of shrimp seeds.
In Khulna the problem with the government-owned land is that it is fragmented and in some cases it is not identified whereas in Cox's Bazar, government own 80% of the land.
Government leases are sometimes illegally subleased by small farmer/leaseholder to shrimp farmer. These illegal leases are done verbally and thus can sometimes be source of conflict at the time of payments.
Improved shrimp farms can vary between single and multiple ownership.
Leasehold land for shrimp farming whether from a few or many land owners usually has problems compared to single ownership of farm land. Furthermore, banks require land as collateral for their credit scheme.
In Khulna, Minimum land area required for economically viable semi-intensive shrimp farming is 12 ha to give 10 ha of water area.
There are two types of leasehold contracts:
More conflicts arises when leasehold not registered as at the time of registration ambiguities can be sorted out and also a registered leasehold carries more legal weight.
Powerful shrimp farmers sometimes obtain illegal leases from bogus landowners and use this type of illegal leases to take over the land through exercising their power and influence unless it is taken to the law courts which can be lengthy and expensive affair for the land owners. In these cases conflicts continue without court settlement. 25%–30% of the cases of conflicts are due to these illegal leases.
About 80% of conflicts are due to disputes over non-payment or partial payments for the lease and these are not necessarily due to a poor harvest. 10–15% of these types of conflicts are due to disputes over particulars of the land ownership on inspection of papers (title deed, size of land, etc.) at the time of payments. This is because they are not usually inspected at the time of signing the leasehold contract. As an example of partial payment, the following case is a good example: Mr. Tareq Mondal, a small landowner in Paikgacha, leased out his 4.75 bigha (0.63 ha) land to a wealthy shrimp farmer with 40 ha shrimp farm for the 5-year period 1990–94, at TK 11,875 a year (TK 2,500 /bigha) to be paid annually in the month of January. However, for the last 4 years he has been paid only TK 5,000 a year, that is only 42% of the lease revenue the land owner is supposed to receive.
This type of conflict arises on land where there is joint production of paddy and shrimp:
These paddy-shrimp conflicts arise in Paikgacha, Bagerhat, Koyra and Dacope Thanas but do not arise in Satkhira because they do not produce paddy on the same land as that of shrimp farming due to high salinity of water in the area at the vicinity of the sea. As the result of paddy-shrimp conflict, the production of paddy has been declining overtime as shrimp farming activities have been increasing. However, the government policy is in favour of shrimp production for foreign exchange benefits.
Shrimp farming negative impacts on vegetation and cattle farming is another source of conflicts. This is due to salinity which damages domestic cattle and farm vegetation and also it damages soil fertility. (salinity is the highest in the month of May).
to shrimp farmer may surround cottages owned and used by people other than the land owner. This people may lose accessibility to their cottage due to shrimp farming around the cottage and this leads to some social tension and conflicts.
The adjoining land to the land leased out to the shrimp farmer may be affected by leakage through faulty embankments damaging the fresh water ponds, vegetation and cattle and thus resulting in social tension and conflicts. These cases are rather frequent in the whole Khulna region, where shrimp farming is not as concentrated as it is in Cox's Bazar.
This type of conflict arises when the landowners of the same shrimp farm lease out to more than one shrimp farmer with none of the shrimp farmers has managed to get the lease for at least 86% of the farm which is required by law before the shrimp farm registration can be done at the Thana Registration Office in order to allow shrimp farming activities to start. In these cases, all means of persuasion including force is used to achieve 86% lease and go for registration otherwise they may decide to go for shrimp farming even illegally without registration. Even in the case of at least 86% lease, the remaining leaseholder (s) may not be happy about it leading to social tension expressed in some cases by poisoning the shrimp farm, illegal harvest at night, or causing leakage in the embankments.
The following is an example of a case in Bagerhat District indicating that one type of conflict, if not resolved, can lead to a different type of conflict which could become more complicated: In this case the shrimp farmer of 67 ha shrimp farmland, belonging to 300 landowners, does not pay the landowners the full amount for the lease. Some of the landowners owning 60% of the land decide to lease out to a different shrimp farmer. There is no compromise between the two shrimp farmers and the original shrimp farmer who is influential intends to possess the shrimp farm by force and starts shrimp farming of the whole farm without the consent of the 60% leaseholder and without registration. Thus partial payment conflict leads to multilessee conflict.
These conflicts are not usually resolved in a peaceful manner. As these conflicts persist over time they sometime lead to physical violence and death. Annex 3, for example, gives The Doctor's certificate of the list of injuries inflicted on one shrimp farm labourer, Mr. Md. Ebrahim, whose survival was in doubt. In this particular conflict a group of 40, armed with sharp weapons, attacked the shrimp farm labourers as they were making preparation to release shrimp fries on 15 March 1994. As the result many were injured and four hospitalized in Khulna for their serious injuries. The attackers had been allegedly hired by an influential person who had only 10% of leasehold of the shrimp farm land and the victims were labourers hired by the leaseholder of the 90% of the shrimp farm with registered leasehold contract and license to start shrimp farming on the farm. As the result the police stopped all the shrimp farming activities on the farm and also provided protection for the influential man at his residence in Buta Mary village of Shait Gombos Union in Sader Thana of Bagerhat District. (This made it difficult to conduct an interview with him to hear his side of the events).
These events are frequently reported in the daily newspapers. (See Annex 4 for an extract from “Dainik Janakantha”, a national newspaper published in Bangla, reporting on 31 March 1994 under the headlines: “Fighting for Possession of Shrimp Culture Farm: 20 people got bullet injuries”). These conflicts have been increasing.
The following proposed measures can help towards reduction if not total elimination of the causes of conflicts:
Help towards formulation of conflict-free leases, for example, through provision of more precise format for lease contracts and specification of pre-requisites and conditions, clear expression of responsibilities on each side;
Efficient and effective law enforcement with respect to violators of the lease, ownership and individual rights disregarding connections or socioeconomic/political status of the violators.
Provision of credit to traditional, partially improved/extensive shrimp farmers.
Help towards formation of shrimp farming cooperatives among small land owners with adjacent plots and provision of credit and extension for dissemination of technical know-how. (This helps the small landowners to have a sharp increase in their earnings compared to the amount they get, if at all, from leasing out their land to the intermediaries or big shrimp farmers. For example, the landlord may get TK 1,000 – 2,000 /bigha (7.5 bigha = 1 ha) under the lease system whereas even the traditional shrimp farmer can have profit of TK 5,000 – 20,000 /bigha. With provision of extension and training for improved shrimp farming the profit can be even higher than this amount. This proposal also will eliminate the major causes of the shrimp farming conflicts.)
Siltation due to river water affects both shrimp and paddy production. For example, in Satkhira District, siltation has been so high that production of shrimp and paddy has stopped.
So many farmers are understocking due to shortage of marine shrimp seeds. The cost has increased and production has gone down. Some farmers have taken TK 200,000 to buy shrimp seeds but the supply in the market is not sufficient to satisfy the demand. The possible factors for shortage of shrimp seeds are:
Environmental degradation due to river pollution;
Disturbances in breeding grounds by trawlers due to over-fishing.
The availability of shrimp seeds would act as a bottleneck for the shrimp culture development if sufficient hatcheries are not established.
The method currently practised by the shrimp seed collectors destroys other fish juveniles and post larvae.
The shrimp seed collection period is February - April. Daily collection is about 80 shrimp seeds per collector from 4 hours of effort, 2 hours at high tide and 2 hours at low tide. However, at full moon and new moon, each person can collect up to 400 shrimp seeds with those at the mouth of the river near the sea get most of it and those with smaller net end up with 180 shrimp seeds. the shrimp seed price is TK 150 /100seeds in 1994 a sharp increase from TK 20–50 /100seeds in 1993. The profit margin of the middleman is between TK 20–30 /100 seeds. The shrimp farmer lends money the middleman who buys from the collectors.
The following Two measures are beneficial to both the shrimp seed collectors as well as the shrimp farming production:
Help Shrimp seed collectors as needed for more effective fishing gears which would benefit the collectors as well as reducing the problem of shortage of shrimp seeds.
Exploring possibility of forming groups and reducing the need for the middlemen and thus getting a better price for the shrimp seed collected.
Women are involved in shrimp seed collection, dressing, in post harvest operations but paid less than men. About 75% of women in Piakgacha participate in collection of shrimp seeds.
Khulna has one hatchery and that produces fresh water shrimp fries and about 3 fresh water shrimp hatcheries under construction in Khulna region. The absence of marine hatcheries are due to the following factors:
Some have been experimenting freshwater shrimps for the second crop but it has not yet been successful. The problem is that freshwater shrimps take 8–9 months from fry to commercial size but there is only 6 months available for the second crop (July-December). This problem can be overcome by starting early at freshwater zone and transferring them in July after the first crop harvest when they are 3-month old juveniles.
There is no cold storage facilities in Paikgacha and only a few in Khulna creating monopolistic environment. There is no sufficient ice-making facilities. This has lead to post harvest waste.
FRI has technology testing programmes. However, total FRI budget is less than that of the Mymensingh Aquaculture Extension Project. The technology used by this project has been developed by FRI and FRI scientists were involved during the first phase of the project. Now there is the problem of sustainability due to heavy input use.
The accomplishments of the Mymensingh Aquaculture Extension Project: Phase I (MAEP1) over 1989–1993 are noteworthy:
A model extension programme which is cost effective even over a short to mid term period.
Investments which are profitable even in the first year of operation.
An institutionalized bank lending programme through 3 commercial banking institutions, the Krishi Bank, the Janata Bank and the Rupali Bank.
Rural women involved in profitable aquaculture.
A successful credit programme with repayment of aquaculture loans a more than 97%.
A technically successful freshwater prawn hatchery through MAEP1 assistance in Noakhali, and at the Mashkanda FSMF in Mymensingh.
Village level freshwater prawn juvenile production through a series of village level nurseries run by the private sector through training and guidance from the project.
Successful village level fish hatcheries to meet the fish seed (fingerling) requirements of each of the project Thanas. This includes the successful pond spawning and large scale production of the mirror carp and Thai Sar Puti.
The successful involvement of Thana officials including regular meetings.
Village pond based aquaculture training to all staff and target pond operators.
Linkages with BAU/DU on joint field demonstrations.
A computer assisted monitoring and evaluation management system for credit and demonstration programme monitoring, and for tracking biological productivity and economics of the aquaculture operations.
Construction and rehabilitation of the three major Fish Seed Multiplication Farms of the Mymensingh area.
Project baseline surveys indicate that pre-project fish production averaged 680 kg/ha/year. The incremental MAEP production is estimated to have been about 1,175 metric tons, an increase of approximately 400%.
One of the major constraints to improved fish production is the lack of fingerlings at the village level. It has been the practice of the AEP when first starting work in a thana to involve interested target group farmers in production of fingerlings. target group nursery operators have directly produced over 20 million fingerlings (over 10 million taka in value).
The project encourages and supports target group farmers in the production of common/mirror carp, Thai Sar Puti and tilapia. It is estimated that 20–30 million hatchlings have been produced by project farmers. (The majority of hatchlings come from larger private and GOB hatcheries as production of hatchlings requires increased capital and technology inputs).
Market size prawns: The project has successfully demonstrated the possibility to culture fish and prawns in a polyculture system. Over 30% of the project ponds have been stocked with prawn juveniles resulting in an average production of 0.6 kg/dec/year (150 kg/ha/year) of market size prawns. Marketing of prawns has been shown to be an area where further investigations have to be undertaken during Phase II.
Prawn post larvae/juveniles:
The Mymensingh Aquaculture Extension project is a GOB project with financial and technical assistance provided on a turnkey basis by DANIDA. The main objective of the project is to develop an extension system which will spread semi-intensive aquaculture techniques to all fish farmers or people with access to ponds in order to increase the production of fish and create employment and income in the project area.
The approach followed by MAEP, is, first of all, to guarantee that all aquaculture supports will be available in the project area down to the village and “Bari” level; then to provide the improved pond production systems through skilled extension workers at the Union and village levels. The extension worker is the vehicle through which the project accomplishes the delivery of the needs of the beneficiaries.
Extension workers, both men and women, are major beneficiaries and members of the target group of landless and marginal farmers and unemployed youth. They are employed on a contract basis in each union of the project. The extension workers are thoroughly trained by the project in aquaculture, extension techniques, and motivation. The project attempts to select extension workers who are already involved in some area of fish production in their own village. They have a vested interest in learning the technology for their own and their clients benefit. After completion of the project these extension workers remain in the union as source of information to their former clients.
The objective of the project in the on-going Phase II is to expand the MEAP Phase I programme to 20 additional Thanas in seven districts. The major goal is to spread semi-intensive fish culture technology to target fish farmers in order to increase fish production, increase capital accumulation for poor farmers and create employment. These semi-intensive aquaculture techniques are to be rapidly spread in 27,000 ponds in the project area. The main components are: training and extension, credit, technical assistance, and the women's programme.
Since 1 October 1993 some changes have been made in favour of the borrowers. The following is a summary of the present situation:
This bank claims to have the highest amount of loan to fisheries sector, and 80% of total agricultural (including fisheries) credit are from this bank:
The present terms are:
In Cox's Bazar area there is no problem with salinity for shrimp farming but there is problem with lack of embankment. Saudis may start loan for embankment. Traditional shrimp farming and salt production have a high rate of poor recovery. The recovery in the case salt production, for example, has been 18% compared to 85% in agricultural credit. Mosquito nets used by some fishermen has caused damage to the stock.
Credit from Sonali Bank is available only for semi-intensive shrimp culture as they have had 100% of recovery for this type of credit. Project loan interest charge reduced from 9% to 8.5% but working capital interest has remained at 13%. Security stands at 70% (bank) and 30% (borrower) for project loans and 80%–20% security for working capital.
At the moment landing is done on mud and some thousands tons of fish get rotten. Post-harvest loss seem to be too high (an estimated figure as high as 25,000 tons, mainly marine, has been quoted). Reportedly, prominent businessmen control the market and they do not use government-run landing sites for the purpose of tax evasion.
The ice delivery outlet is not designed to be flexible enough to accommodate delivery to smaller boats as the result one third of ice delivery hits the existing load in the boat and falls off the boat into the water around it and thus can be regarded as part of wastage in the ice delivery system.
