1. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
2. PURPOSE
3. WORKSHOP PAPERS
4. PARTICIPANTS
5. EXPECTED OUTPUTS
6. NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND DONORS TO BE INVOLVED
Fisheries in Bangladesh play a vital role in the national economy, providing as they do nutrition, employment and export. An estimated 70-80 per cent of the animal protein supply in the country is of fish origin. Over 1.2 million people are engaged full-time in fishing, but most of the rural families are involved in part-time fishing during certain months of the year. In 1994-95, fisheries products earned Tk. 13,000 million worth of foreign exchange, of which about 85 per cent was the contribution of shrimp alone.
Estimated fish production in 1993-94 was a little over one million metric tonnes of which 552,000 mt (51 per cent) came from inland openwaters, 275,000 mt (25 per cent) from culture and 260,000 mt (24 per cent) from marine waters. The floodplains and rivers together are the largest sources of fish supply in the country, but these sources are, unfortunately, the most affected by the adverse changes in nature that are man-made and man-induced. Riverine fisheries has declined from 0.21 million mt in 1984-85 to 0.13 million mt in 1993-94, accounting for a 38 per cent fall. The Government has taken up massive programmes for stock enhancement and management in the openwaters.
Various types of interventions, including open water stock enhancement programmes or Flood Action Plan mitigation or compensatory measures, being taken by the Government, may halt or even reverse the declining trend in open water fish production. But will the benefits of the public sector efforts adequately flow to the target beneficiaries, i.e. the fishing community? It might also be wondered if the public sector, all by itself, can sustain the open water fisheries resource management efforts. It may also be asked if the resource users i.e. the fishermen, should share the fisheries management responsibilities and functions with the Government through a co-management or participatory community-based fisheries management system. If so, what should be the framework of such a management system?
The Government wishes to protect all categories of fisheries resources and develop them at their maximum sustainable levels to accelerate the country's economic growth and social benefits.
The Government has drawn up a draft perspective development plan for the period 1995-2010.
The Workshop will provide an opportunity for direct interactions amongst the national and international fisheries experts, fishermen's and fish farmers' associations, entrepreneurs, financiers, various Government, non-Government, international and bilateral organizations, and others, on fisheries development and management matters in Bangladesh. The technical papers and the free and frank discussions on them may lead to valuable recommendations which may be useful for the formulation of strategies for future development.
a) To create further awareness and understanding, among the policy-makers, planners, fishery administrators, researchers, fishermen, fish farmers, entrepreneurs and financiers, of the fisheries resources, potentials, constraints and prospects.b) To promote new ideas, approaches, strategies, etc. for further development of resources on a sustainable basis.
c) To identify new project ideas and initiate preparation of specific project proposals with indications of fund requirements and sources.
Nine papers will be presented in the Workshop. The papers are:
1. Potentials, constraints and development strategies for conservation and management of inland openwater fisheries in Bangladesh.2. Potentials, constraints and strategies for conservation and management of open brackishwater and marine fishery resources.
3. Freshwater aquaculture: Potential, constraints and management needs for sustainable development.
4. Brackish and marine water aquaculture: Potential, constraints and management needs for sustainable development.
5. Strategy for integrated management of land and water in FCDI projects with focus on fisheries development.
6. Research and information needs for fisheries development and management.
7. Financing of aquaculture, capture, processing and marketing of fish, shrimp and other aquatic resources in Bangladesh.
8. Legal, regulatory and institutional framework for fisheries and fishing community development and management.
9. Quality control and marketing of fish products: Need for infrastructure and legal support.
The participants of the Workshop will be fishery policy-makers, planners, fishery managers, extension officers from government agencies, and representatives from research institutes, universities, banking institutions, fishermen's organizations, NGOs, the private sector, donors and development agencies.
a) Nine technical papers covering different aspects of fisheries development and recommendations.b) Improved awareness and understanding amongst the policy-makers, planners, fishery managers and fishermen of the problems, constraints and impacts of fisheries management measures.
c) A list of broad project ideas, each or a few of which combined together could lead to a specific development project.
d) Proceedings of the workshop in printed form.
Apart from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, FAO and ODA, representatives from all the relevant national Government and non-Government organizations, fishermen's and fishfarmers' associations and international and bilateral donors will be invited to the Workshop for participation.
