And while the matter has been discussed time and again in the past, it is good to see our nation finally making some headway in this particular avenue. And we are planning to do so in the most sustainable fashion possible.
At the 7th Our Ocean Conference in Palau, the Bangladeshi government announced five new commitments towards healthy oceans, one of them being putting an end to the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in compliance with the internationally agreed market-related measures. Other measures announced include ensuring safe ship recycling by 2023, and the establishment of a new Marine Protected Area in Saint Martin’s Island reaching a total of 8.8% of its Exclusive Economic Zone.
It is good to know that the further development of our Blue Economy will take the health of our oceans into consideration, something which has long been an area of concern worldwide. Our oceans are the veritable source of life itself, and the rise of the global fishing industry has been of huge detriment to their long-term sustainability.
To that end, for the administration to be making use of our marine resources in a way that not only ensures the environmental integrity of our oceans remains un-impacted but also goes some ways to improve it is absolutely commendable.
Bangladesh is already investing to build further capacity to effectively manage its marine resources, and maximizing the potential of this sector will go a long way towards helping the country achieve its ultimate goal of becoming a developed country by 2041. And to do so in a way that does not harm our oceans any further is what will be key in that regard.
