Fishermen and researchers have criticised the government’s decision to provide licenses for new commercial trawlers without survey.
“Survey on fishing in the Bay of Bengal is a must to locate new fishing grounds and to get a real picture of fish stock and fishing data,” said Dewan Ali Ahsan, professor of Dhaka University’s fisheries department.
Commenting on 25 new trawler licenses, Ahsan told the Dhaka Tribune that the decision is unwise as it may lead to over fishing. Ahsan also emphasised on carrying out the survey every four years.
The last survey was done in 1984-85 to estimate fish stock, catching capacity and other statuses.
80 percent of the country’s 5.5 metric tons fish from the sea comes from small trawlers and the rest from commercial trawlers.
Ahsan also informed that according to the Marine Fisheries Ordinance of 1943, there is no provision of seasonal restriction on catching fish in the Bay of Bengal and Ahsan observed that a fish catching limit in the ordinance is a necessity.
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) is the best way for catching fish as it limits our catching capacity.
The MSY is the maximum annual catch of a species’ over an indefinite period, without jeopardising that stock.
Instead of allowing new trawlers, the government should introduce fishing vessels with modern technologies, which will be able to catch fish in deep sea and help increase in fish production, said Ali Ahsan.
For sustainable growth of fish, the government should declare a zone of Bay of Bengal as Marine Protected Area (MPA), as it will help breeding without disturbance, he added.
Meanwhile, ministry sources said the government is going to import modern survey vessel next year, financed by Islamic Development Bank (IDB), which will be used to conduct the survey regularly.
On the other hand, Saif Rahman, secretary general of Bangladesh Samudrik Motshya Ahoronkari Boat Malik Samity (BSMABMS), said “we urged the government to make its decision on new licenses after conducting a survey to get the real figure of fish stock, but the government has ignored our demands.”
“We are against new licenses, because there is over-fishing with existing mechanised, non-mechanised and commercial trawlers,” he added.
Saif Rahman claimed that allowing more commercial fishing vessels will pose a great threat to coastal residents as their livelihood is largely dependent on fishing.
Rahman alleged that around 90 percent commercials trawlers, which are supposed to catch fish at more than 40 meters depth, are breaching rules by fishing within the 40 meter range, as they are not getting ample fish. This makes the necessity of more trawlers invalid.
Fish production declined because a high proportion of juvenile fish are being caught, jeopardizing species, he continued.
Mohammad Ali, president of BSMABMS told the Dhaka Tribune that the new licenses are “completely irrational.” He added the sea will be fishless, because the commercial trawlers catch fish with gears that kills fish eggs and small fishes. The government should fix the gears to be used for fishing, Ali observed.
Earlier, the government permitted 25 new trawlers for fishing in the exclusive economic zone(EEZ) of the Bay of Bengal to ensure smooth, sustainable and tolerable extraction of sea fish resources.
Of them, 15 mid-water trawlers will fish at depths of 40 to 200 metres at sea, while the other 10 long-liners will fish within 200 metres depth.
Currently, sea fish resources are extracted in three tiers up to 40 metres depth from the coastline where normal fishing boats operate, from 40 metres to 200 metres of depth where mid-water trawlers operate, and from 200 metres of depth to the exclusive economic zone where long-liner trawlers run.
According to ministry statistics, 299 licensed trawlers are operating in the second and third tiers with permission from the government.
About 54.6 million metric tons of sea fish resources were extracted during the 2010-2011 fiscal, with 91 percent contributions coming from small trawlers.
