A Background Paper on

Bangladesh Fisheries

Md. Ferdous Alam

Madan Mohan Dey

1
BANGLADESH

The country is bounded by

India in the north and west; by the
Bay of Bengal in the south, and
finally by part of India and
Myanmar in the eastern side.

The total area of the country is

147,570 sq km (56,977 sq. miles).

A wide portion of land is

covered by large rivers such as
the Padma, the Jamuna, the
Teesta, the Meghna, the
Brahmaputra, and the Surma.

There are also thousands

of tributaries with a total length of
about 24,140 km. These rivers are
connected to the Bay of Bengal.

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 FISHERIES RESOURCES

1. Inland Open-waters : 4047316ha

84.75%
(capture fishery)

2. Inland closed-water : 528390ha

15.25%
(culture fishery)
Total inland area : 4575706 ha
100.00%

3. Marine water :166,000 sq km

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 FISHERIES POTENINTIAL

Fisheries have huge potential

Have one of the highest man-water ratio in

the
world (at 20 persons per ha of watet area)

Available sunlight and temperature

throughout
the year is an added advantage for fish
production

Water fertility is conducive to fish growth

 FISH AND FISHERIES
Fish and fisheries are an integral part of the life of

Bangladeshi
Fish is a natural complement in the diet of
Bangladeshi
Fish supplies 58% of animal protein
13 million people are involved for livelihood
73% of rural household are involved in freshwater
aquaculture and floodplains
Fisheries contribute:
4.64% to the GDP
23.00% to agricultural GDP, and
5.10% to foreign exchange earning

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 INLAND OPEN-WATERS
(CAPTURE FISHERY)

Environment Water Area

(ha)

i. Rivers and Estuaries 853,863

(21.10%)
ii. Sundarban (water resources 177,700
in forest)
(4.38%)
iii. Beel (deepest part of the 114,161
floodplain)
(2.82%)
iv. Kaptai lake 68,800

(1.70%)
v. Floodplain 2,832,792

(70.00%) 6
 Inland closed-water (culture fishery )

Environment Water Area

(ha)

i. Ponds and ditches 30

5,205

(57.76%)

II Baor 5,488
(ox-bow lake for hydro electricity
generation)
(1.04%)

iii. Shrimp Farms

(freshwater and Brackish water) 217,877 7
 Marine waters

Environment Water Area

i. Coastal Area 2.30 million ha

ii. Coast line (along the Bay of 710 km

Bengal)

iii. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 200-mile

Total Marine Water (including EEZ) 166,000 sq km

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 Fish Production (2008-09)

Inland capture fisheries Production Productivity

(ton) (Kg/ha)
i. Rivers and estuaries 138,160 162
ii. Sundarban 18,462 104
iii. Beel 79,200 694
iv. Kaptai lake 8,590 125
v. Floodplain 879,513 310
Total 1,123,925
(41.61%)
Inland culture fishery
i. Ponds and ditches 912,178 2991
ii. baor 5,038 918
iii. Shrimp/prawn farm 145,585 668
Total 1,062,801
(39.61%)
Marine Fisheries 514,644
(19.05%) 9
11
Fish production from inland culture
sources

12
13
14
Fish Production Growth (1983-84 to 2008-09)

Fishery Exponential Rank

growth rate
(%)
A. Inland capture fishery 3.78
i. Rivers and estuaries -1.48 9
ii. Sundarban 4.64 5
iii. Beels 2.70 8
iv. Kaptai Lake 4.28 7
v. Floodplain 6.34 4
B. Inland culture Fishery 9.69
i. Ponds 9.63 2
ii. Baor 7.48 3
iii. Shrimp farms 10.37 1
C. Marine Fishery 4.34
i. Industrial fishery 4.59 6
ii. Artisanal 4.28 7 15
 Fish Biodiversity

There are 300 species of fish and 20 species of prawns in

Bangladesh.

The most common species is ilish (national fish)

60 native and 13 exotic species of fish and 20 species of

shrimp in inland freshwaters.

The major and minor indigenous carps are ( katla, rohu,

mrigel and kalbasu ) and ( bata, reba, nandin and gonia ).

Introduced exotic species are silver carps, grass carp,

bighead carp, black carp, common carp, silver barb, Tilapia
and Mahseer

Indigenous carps (Rohu, Catla and Mrigal) and one exotic

carp (silver carp) accounts for about 74% of pond
production.

Other major cultures species in Bangladesh include the

grass carp, common carp, tilapia and Pangas.
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 Threat to Biodiversity

Number of freshwater species is declining at an

alarming rate with some species, in recent years,
having become extinct.

According to the Red Book figure, about 54

freshwater species are critically or somewhat
endangered in the country. Among them 14 species
are listed as critically endangered; 27 as
endangered and 14 s vulnerable (IUCN, 2000).

Overfishing, rapid extraction of fish seed and

broodstock, destructive and unregulated fishing
practices, pollution, introduction of exotic
species, loss of aquatic habitat due to siltation,
dam construction, and other anthropogenic
activities have been the major causes of fish
species loss.
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 Intensity of technology use
Technology Intensit Technollogy Intensit
y y
Mixed culture of IE, SI Sorpunti culture IE
carps
Integrated Fish IE, SI Pangas culture IE
Culture
Composite culture IE, SI Galda IE
of carps and
freshwater prawn
Culture of Tilapia IE, SI Bagda E, SI

Culture of Exotic IE, SI, I

magur
Fish culture in SI, I
cages
Fish cultutre in Pen IE
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 Processing and export

No. of Fish processing plant: 133

Most of them are in Khulna and Chittagong
Capacity far outstrips supply (18-20% capacity
utilization)
Product sale comprises 72% unprocessed
(frozen whole) product, 24%
prepared/preserved and 4% other products
(frozen freshwater fish)
Main markets are USA (40%), EU (UK,
Netherland, Belgium,
Germany) 39%
Demand is strong for Bagda and Golda
Freshwater fish are exported for expatriate
Bangladeshi communities

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 Fisheries Export

Year Total Total value % of total

export (Million export
(tons) Taka) earning
1999-00 39391 18115.6 6.28
2000-01 38988 20327.5 5.77
2001-02 41482 16371.4 4.76
2002-03 47371 19415.9 5.10
2003-04 54141 23634.7 5.71
2004-05 63377 25712.2 5.90
2005-06 68829 30298.4 4.56
2006-07 73704 33528.9 4.90
2007-08 75299 33962.8 4.04
2008-09 72888 32434.1 3.00

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Fisheries Export Trend

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 Export of fish and fish products 2008-09

Qty % of
Export items (ton) total
Frozen
shrimp/prawn 50368 69.103

Live fish 0.3 0.000

Frozen fish 19294 26.471

Dryfish 341 0.468

Salted &dehydrated
fish 84 0.115
Turtle/Tortoise, crab
& eel 1217 1.670
Shark fin and Fish
Maws 276 0.379

Others 1308 1.795

72888.
All items 3 100.000
A Generalized Marketing Channel
PRIMARY MARKET
Collection center/rural market within the fishing area. Operated by collectors

SECONDARY MARKET
First landing and distribution center near thana headquarters or vital
communication points. Market operated by commission agents called aratdars

HIGHER SECONDARY MARKET

Second landing & distribution center in cities/towns.
Operated by commission agents called aratdars

FINAL CONSUMING MARKET

Retail marketing. Paikars sell to retailers

Sub-urban Urban Rural

retailing retailing retailing
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Domestic Marketing Channel (Public sector)

BFDC

Brokers

Beparies`

Aratdars

Retailers

Consumers

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 Market Channel and Share (culture fish)

Fish Farmer

Home
Nikari
10% Consumption
82.85%
7.15%

Bepari

75.6%

Aratdar

75.6%

Paiker/ Retailer

92.85%

Consumer

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Marketing profit of frozen and dryfish
(Taka/Kg)

Markets Major Minor Processing

frozen frozen plants for
species species frozen /dry
species
Primary 9.43 6.56
Secondary 3.14 4.06
Consumer 13.53 8.49
All market 26.10 19.13 98.94 /
90.12

Ahmed (2009) showed that total marketing margin of

tilapia is 31%: 5% (primary market), (15%) secondary
market and (11%) retail market

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Producers share to consumer price

Author Producer share(%) Species types

Rahman (2009) 40-45 Freshwater
Fish
Khan (1995) 45.60 , 83.44 Freshwater
Fish
Islam (1997) 59.63, 65.11 shrimp
Mia (1996) 56 Marine fish
Ahmed (1983) 51-63 Freshwater
and marine
species
60-63
Marine species
Ahmed (2007) 55 Hilsha

Ahmed (2009) 69 Tilapia

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 Data availability

Fisheries data are generated mainly by three organizations:

1. Department of Fisheries :
This publication provides details of production
statistics by fisheries resources, species, districts,
upazilas and export statistics of fish and fish
products. Unfortunately, the publication does not
provide any information of fish prices.

2. Department of Agricultural Marketing :

DAM maintains retail prices, wholesale prices and
growers prices of different markets under upazillas
and districts of different divisions.

3. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics :

BBS produces annual price statistics of some selected
fish species in its annual publications, Yearbook of
Statistics and Statistical Pocket Book of Bangladesh.

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 Market/marketing Review of Studies
Marketing studies of crops are plenty
Fish marketing studies are very scanty
Most fish marketing studies are conducted in BAU
Most studies relate to kind of price spread and
marketing margin
Few market integration studies exist that are
methodologically very shallow (correlation approach)
Most studies are done with limited sample
No representative structure-conduct-performance
type study exists
Supply chain, value chain and price spread type
studies are confusing
No existence of studies related to price transmission
and price linkage across different market levels

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