Bangladesh - National Report 2018

Bangladesh is blessed with vast coastal and marine resources. The coastal area of the country is known as one of the highly productive areas of the world by virtue of her geographical position and climatic condition. Bangladesh is rich not only in terms of its vast water areas but also in terms of the biological diversity. One of the unique features of the coastal areas is the influence of the mangrove forests, which support a high number of fishes and other commercially important aquatic organisms. The biological and ecological values of the Bay of Bengal have been pointed out by many authors. The coastal and marine fisheries have been playing considerable roles not only in the social and economic development of the country but also in the regional ecological balance. A large number of commercially important fishes have long been exploited which are of high export values and consume locally as precious item. Tuna and tuna like other highly migratory species have become high pace in the priority list to the government of Bangladesh for a couple of years especially after demarcated sea boundary with the neighbour that lead to the access of Bangladeshi fishers to the Area Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) of high seas. Simultaneously, the study of tuna and tuna like fishes of Bangladesh marine waters are one of the most poorly studied areas of the world although it possesses high potential. Proper attention is needed in every aspect of exploitation, handling and processing, export and marketing as well as in biological and institutional management strategies. Basically, there is no specific tuna fishery in Bangladesh. Tuna are by catch of industrial trawlers and artisanal gill netters. In quantity, tuna comprises about 1% of the industrial catch and 9% of catch is mackerel in the year 2017-18. The coastal and marine fisheries of Bangladesh are briefly reviewed in this report to provide a salient feature of the available information of marine fisheries with a view to identify sustainable management of the resources.