2. Aquaculture extension services

2.1 Development and management
2.2 Fisheries research
2.3 Fisheries education and training

2.1 Development and management

Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MFL)
Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC)
Other organisations

Several organisations are involved in fishery development and management in Bangladesh and therefore it could be characterised as one of multiple control. The main administrative body is the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MFL). The chief public sector agencies responsible for implementation of development and management activities are the Department of Fisheries (DOF) and Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) both of which are under the MFL.

Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MFL)

The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock prepares detailed sectoral policies and strategies under the broad policy guidelines prescribed by the Planning Commission. Ministers are the executive heads of the ministries who are directly responsible to the Prime Minister while the Secretary is the administrative head. The MFL Secretary is assisted by two Joint Secretaries, three deputies and six assistants. Planning, monitoring and evaluation activities of the MFL are the responsibilities of the Planning Cell, headed by a Joint Chief.

Department of Fisheries (DOF)

The Department of Fisheries under the MFL is responsible for these main functions:

• Management and conservation of fish resources.
• Initiation and enforcement of fish acts, rules and ordinance for protection and conservation of fish resources.
• Extension of modern knowledge and information on aquaculture, fish conservation and other areas.
• Training of fishery officers, fish and shrimp farmers in aquafarming.
• Inspection and quality control of and certification for shrimp and fish for export.
• Formulation and execution of development projects for developing fishery resources and for fisherfolks’ and aquafarmers’ welfare.
• Collection and dissemination of statistical data on fish and fisheries.
• Management and administration of Government-owned fisheries known as jalmahals. The Department is headquartered in Dhaka but it has offices at division (5), district (64) and thana levels (456) to administer fisheries activities.

Table 12. Manpower, Department of Fisheries:

Budget	Category	Number of Posts
		Sanctioned	Posted	Vacant
Revenue (Permanent)	Class - I	747	670	77
	Class - II	71	66	5
	Class - III	2129	2051	78
	Class - IV	984	984	-
	Total	3931	3771	160
Development (ad hoc)	Class-I	274	250	24
	Class-II	51	51	-
	Class-III	476	456	20
	Class-IV	384	334	14
	Total	1149	1091	58
Total		5080	4862	218

Note: There are 613 cadre posts.

Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC)

The BFDC is an autonomous organisation with its headquarters at Dhaka. Since its inception in 1964, it has performed various promotional and commercial activities. The main activities include the following: marine resources survey, manpower training, development of infrastructure for preservation, processing, distribution and marketing of fish and fishery products, introduction of mechanised fishing boats and fish transportation vessels, construction of fish harbour and landing centres, trawl fishing, fishmeal and feed manufacturing, net making, local marketing, and export.

However, since 1984, the government has limited the BFDC activities to commercial undertakings. Thus the non-commercial activities of the corporation have been closed and the establishments transferred to other organisations. The corporation has 18 income-generating commercial units including fish culture projects located in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Comilla, Mongla, Barisal, Patharghata, Khulna, Rangamati and Rajshahi. The BFDC’s activities are administered by a Board of Directors headed by a Chairman. The Board has three Divisions: (a) finance, accounts and audit; (b) purchase and marketing; and (c) planning and implementation

Each division is headed by a Director, and has two or three sections, each headed by a Manager. The administrative work of the corporation is done by a Secretary who works directly under the Chairman. The heads of 18 production or other income-generating units also directly report to the Chairman.

Other organisations

a. Ministry of Land (MOL). The ownership and the right to control all rivers, beels, oxbow lakes and other Government water bodies larger than 8 ha (20 acres) are vested with the Ministry of Land. The rivers are arbitrarily demarcated into a number of units locally known as jalmahals. Beels, haors, baors (oxbow lakes) and other government owned waters including ponds are also designated as jalmahals. Authorised by the ministry, the district revenue administration leases out the jalmahals for one-year periods, renewable up to three years. Lease is made through auction, in which only the fisher cooperatives take part, unless no fisher cooperatives show interest in the water body and in which case others could participate.

b. Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MLGRD). This ministry comprises the following units:

• The Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB), earlier known as Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) under MLGRD, includes aquaculture in most of its rural development programmes. The BRDB reclaims and renovates Government owned ponds and hand these over to the cooperatives of assetless people for fish culture. Noakhali IRDP Project (phase I and phase II), the Southwest Rural Development Programme Project represent some of the fisheries activities of the BRDB. In all these projects, technical training and extension services are provided through the DOF.
• Department of Cooperative Societies and Fisherpersons’ Cooperatives, under the MLGRD, organises fisherpesons into cooperatives, registers the cooperative societies and supervises their technical, administrative and financial activities. The fisherpersons’ cooperatives are granted a number of privileges e.g., priority in the lease of Government-owned water bodies.

c. Ministry of Water Resources (earlier known as Ministry of Irrigation, Water Development and Flood Control). Under this ministry, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) implements all flood control, drainage and irrigation projects. Most of the Projects have produced adverse impacts on open water fisheries. However, many of the projects have created closed water environment which favour aquaculture development. Most of the shrimp farms are located in the coastal embankment projects. Aquaculture is also practised with community participation in the borrow-pit canals and the enclosed rivers within some of the FCDI projects in the freshwater areas. A memorandum of understanding between the MWR and the MFL has been signed in this respect.

d. Ministry of Commerce. The Export Promotion Bureau under the Ministry is responsible for setting export targets for fish and fishery products.

e. Ministry of Shipping. This ministry is responsible for survey, registration and inspection of trawlers, mechanised fishing boats and all other sea-going vessels.

f. Ministry of Youth and Sports. The Ministry provides training to the rural unemployed youth in various income generating activities including aquaculture. Aquaculture related training is organised by DOF at its various training centres.

g. Ministry of Forest and Environment. The rivers and their tributaries situated in the reserved forests are controlled by the Department of Forest which receive fees from those fisherpersons engaged in fishing within the forest reserves.

h. Ministry of Industry. The Ministry issues licences to the industrial trawlers, fish processing plants, feed manufacturing plants and others.

i. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This Ministry is responsible for negotiating and coordinating fishing, commercial or trade pacts or activities relating to fisheries between Bangladesh and foreign countries.

j. Ministry of Finance. The Finance Division under the ministry is responsible for the release of funds under the revenue and development budgets to all agencies or ministries. The Economic Relations Division (ERD), earlier known as External Resources Division, explores foreign assistance for various development programmes or projects. The Division also coordinates and ministers all external aid to various sectors including fisheries.

k. Planning Commission. The Planning Commission is responsible for national planning and overall coordination of all development sectors. Its main functions are the following: (i) formulation of national policies and development strategies, (ii) preparation of short-term medium-term and long-term national development plans (iii) periodic review of plans, (iv) appraisal and evaluation of projects, (v) coordination of development activities amongst the various ministries,. The Commission has five members.

l. Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division, or. The IMED is the central monitoring unit for all development projects in the public sector in Bangladesh. The executing agencies submit monthly, quarterly and annual reports in standard formats prescribed by the IMED, which data are used for monitoring the financial and physical progress of development projects. The IMED submits to the National Economic Committee (NEC) and its Executive Council sectoral evaluation reports along with recommendations. On the basis of these reports the NEC may make decisions which are binding on all ministries and agencies.

m. Credit Institutions. Institutional credit is provided to fisheries sector mainly through

• Three nationalised banks viz., Sonali, Agrani and Janata,
• Two specialised Government-owned banks, viz., Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank,
• Private sector commercial bank, Rupali Bank, in which the Government owns the majority share and
• Central Cooperative Associations which are financed by Sonali Bank and disburse loans to village based cooperatives mainly for agricultural purpose, but for fisheries also.

Some NGOs provide credit to assetless rural people for fisheries purposes. Among the NGOs, Grameen Bank is the most important in terms of volume of lending. This bank normally issues short-term loan, without any collateral, as working capital to assetless rural people for such activities as fish culture, fish trading, and net making.

2.2 Fisheries research

Fisheries Research Institute
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council

Fisheries Research Institute

The Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) is the main research organisation that formulates and implements fisheries/aquaculture research plans and programmes. It was established in 1984 under the administrative control of the MFL. The FRI works under a Board of Governors; the Chairman is the Minister for Fisheries and Livestock, and the Vice-Chairman is the MFL Secretary. There are 10 other members, 8 from various public sector organisations and two from the private sector. The Director of FRI is the Member-Secretary of the Board of Governors.

The Institute has four research stations and two research sub-stations. The four stations are: (i) Freshwater Research Station, Mymensingh, (ii) Riverine Research Station, Chandpur, (iii) Brackishwater Research Station, Paikgacha, and (iv) Marine Fisheries and Technological Research Station, Cox’s Bazar. Out of the two sub-stations, one is at Rangamati for Kaptai Lake fishery and the other sub-station at Shantahar (Bogra district) for floodplains fishery research.

The Freshwater Research Station buildings at Mymensingh accommodates the FRI headquarters. The Freshwater Station at Mymensingh and the Brackishwater Station at Paikgacha are mostly devoted to aquaculture research.

• The Freshwater Research Station has 118 research ponds which range from 0.04 to 0.62 ha in size; a large carp hatchery and dormitory facilities for trainees. This centre’s research activities are mainly on hatchery development and management, improved aquaculture technologies, fish genetics, fish feed and nutrition, fish disease, farming system, socio-economic studies. About 35 scientists work at this station.
• The Brackishwater Research Station at Paikgacha was established to conduct research on artificial production of Galda fry, development of improved technologies for shrimp culture, socio-economic studies of the shrimp farmers, exploration of Bagda shrimp fry grounds, survey of brackishwater fisheries, and other areas. Although the site for the station was selected in 1987, construction work started only in 1991 because of the delay in acquiring the land. Most of the buildings have been completed, but pond construction work is half-way through, suspended for the last few years because of a court litigation filed by the contractor.
• The Marine Fisheries and Technological Research Station and the Riverine Research Station are supposed to concentrate respectively on marine fisheries and riverine fisheries researches, but the two stations have not been able to do so, because of insufficient facilities and lack of trained manpower.

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council

The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Agriculture. As the apex organisation for agricultural research, BARC draws up research priorities, coordinates the research activities of the various agricultural-related research institutes (including FRI and various universities), evaluates research programmes, prepares manpower development programmes and national research plans. The council has several functional divisions, one of which is concerned with fisheries. Each division is headed by a Member-Director. The council is headed by an Executive Vice Chairman.

2.3 Fisheries education and training

Education
Training

Education

Four universities provide degree programs in fishery education - the University of Dhaka, University of Chittagong, University of Rajshahi and the Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. The Department of Zoology, Dhaka and Rajshahi Universities offers a Master’s Degree in Zoology with specialisation in a number of fields including fisheries. The Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Chittagong offers education and training in various aspects of marine sciences including fisheries.

The Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, has a full-fledged Faculty of Fisheries established in 1967-68. At present, the faculty has four Departments: (i) Fisheries Biology and Genetics, (ii) Aquaculture, (iii) Fisheries Management, and (iv) Fisheries Technology. The faculty offers B.Sc. (Hons) and M.S. degree in fisheries. The honours degree takes 4 years to complete and the M.S. takes 18 months after the B. Sc. Hons degree. A yearly system for undergraduate (B.Sc. Hons) courses and semester systems for graduate (M.S.) courses are followed. Each semester lasts for 6 months. Two semesters are devoted to course work and one to research. During the 4-year degree programme, the students take 24 compulsory subjects from the four departments of the fisheries faculty and 5 selected courses from other faculties.

Training

Unlike in the administrative service, entrants into the fisheries service are not provided with pre-service training. They are however given in-country and foreign training in technical matters mainly through some development projects. Occasionally, training is also organised for them at existing training centres through the revenue project efforts. Farmers training is provided at several places established through the development projects (see section 3.5.5).