Arya News - Bangladesh`s aquaculture boom has helped prevent a national protein deficit – driven by advances in hatchery technology, the development of high-yielding strains, and private investment. However, farmed fish alone cannot sustain the sector’s future.
DHAKA – For centuries, the culture and food traditions of Bangladesh have been closely tied to its rivers, wetlands and floodplains. The proverb “Machhe-Bhate Bangali” (fish and rice make a Bengali) sums up this bond. The connection is practical as well as cultural: fish underpin the country’s food security, rural livelihoods and economy.
Bangladesh is among the world’s top fish producers. In 2023–24, it produced 5.02 million metric tonnes of fish, worth BDT 250,900 crore (USD 20.44 billion). The fisheries sector accounts for 2.43% to 2.53% of GDP and over 22% of agricultural GDP. It provides nearly 60% of the animal protein Bangladeshis consume each day and supports the livelihoods of 19 to 20 million people, directly and indirectly.
Bangladesh ranks first in the world in hilsa production, third in inland open-water capture fisheries, fourth in tilapia production and fifth in aquaculture overall.
The shift to pond farming and the loss of water bodies
Behind these figures lies a growing ecological crisis. Over the past four decades, the structure of Bangladesh’s fisheries sector has been transformed. Before 1971, capture fisheries in our open waters (rivers, beels, haors and canals) supplied nearly 90% of the country’s fish. Today, closed-water aquaculture (pond farming) accounts for 60.6% (3.14 million metric tonnes) of national output. Inland open-water capture fisheries have declined to 26.4%–28.1% (1.36 million metric tonnes), while marine fisheries supply the remaining 12.5%–13%.
The aquaculture boom has helped prevent a national protein deficit. It has been driven by advances in hatchery technology, the development of high-yielding strains such as GIFT tilapia, improved rohu and catfish, and private investment. However, farmed fish alone cannot sustain the sector’s future.
Aquaculture faces growing problems of its own: genetic deterioration of broodstock, rising feed costs, disease outbreaks and heatwaves brought on by climate change. More importantly, pond farming cannot replace the biodiversity and ecological services provided by healthy, free-flowing rivers and wetlands.
The core vulnerability of our fisheries system is the degradation and physical disappearance of natural aquatic habitats. In the 21 years from 2001–02 to 2022–23, Bangladesh lost over 1.05 million hectares of inland open water, a 21.52% reduction in water surface area. That shrinkage costs the country nearly 380,000 metric tonnes of potential wild fish production a year, worth an estimated BDT 22,763 crore.
Had this inland open water not been lost or degraded, Bangladesh would now rank second, if not first, in the world for inland capture fisheries production.
Three forces are destroying these water bodies:
Rivers, canals and beels are silting up or being illegally filled for real estate development, industrial infrastructure and other commercial uses. Untreated effluent from textile mills and tanneries, urban sewage and agricultural chemicals have left many waterways toxic and biologically dead. Fine-mesh monofilament nets (current jal) and other illegal fishing gear continue to kill juvenile fish, i ncluding jatka , and native broodstock. This degradation threatens aquatic biodiversity, the cost-free protein safety net for rural communities and the country’s long-term economic resilience.
Conserve water bodies first, and fish production will follow
If Bangladesh is to maintain food security for its growing population, we must adopt a fundamental guiding philosophy: conserve water bodies first, then prioritise fish production.
To achieve a sustainable 5% annual growth rate in wild capture fisheries, Bangladesh urgently needs a coordinated national response built on the following pillars.
Figure 1. Strategic framework for restoring inland water bodies
Table 1. Strategic action plan and policy framework
Strategic pillar
| Core actions
| Implementation mechanism
| Expected outcome
|
|---|
Pillar 1: Habitat-first environmental policy
| Mark out and protect the boundaries of natural water bodies Prioritise ecosystem integrity before fish production | Legal enforcement; integrated ecological impact assessments
| Long-term restoration of natural hydrological regimes and breeding grounds
|
Pillar 2: Sanctuary network expansion
| Establish permanent sanctuaries in critical wetland basins (haors, baors, rivers) Impose seasonal fishing bans during peak spawning | Co-management committees; Department of Fisheries (DoF) oversight
| Recovery of indigenous broodstock and richer biodiversity
|
Pillar 3: Community-based management
| Empower local fisher co-operatives End the exploitation of open waters by leaseholders | Legal models for community-based fisheries management (CBFM)
| Equitable access to resources, less destructive fishing, and sustainable management
|
Pillar 4: Integrated pollution control and restoration
| Enforce ETP compliance in industry Dredge silted river channels where needed most | Inter-ministerial task force (Environment, Fisheries, Water Resources)
| Better water quality, connected habitats, and more resilient aquatic ecosystems
|
1. Launch a nationwide programme to restore water bodies
Establish a permanent, nationwide habitat restoration programme under the Department of Fisheries to routinely re-excavate silted rivers, canals and beels. Re-excavate and rehabilitate at least one major water body in each union or upazila every year. Allocate a dedicated annual Blue Revenue Budget of BDT 10,000 crore for open-water habitat restoration. 2. Zero tolerance for wetland encroachment and conversion
Ban any alteration of natural beels and seasonal wetlands, as well as any commercial construction within them. These water bodies must be preserved to allow fish to breed and water to flow freely. Impose heavy fines, legal liability and prison sentences for illegal landfilling, industrial dumping and the conversion of wetlands to other uses. 3. Reclaim, restore and return stolen wetlands
Launch state-led drives without delay to identify public water bodies that have been illegally occupied, converted or filled, recover them from encroachers and restore community access. Before handing over management, use state funds to re-excavate and ecologically restore reclaimed water bodies so that they can produce fish again. Then hand over the restored water bodies to local fishing communities to be managed under scientific guidelines, ensuring that they serve community livelihoods rather than private interests. 4. Protect breeding seasons and support fishers
Enforce fishing bans in critical inland waters during the peak breeding season (April–July) so that native fish species can spawn safely. Replicate the successful hilsa conservation model by providing alternative income support and food assistance through the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme to vulnerable fishing families during fishing ban periods. 5. Empower local communities and safeguard biodiversity
Transfer the management of local beels and haors from short-term commercial leaseholders to local fisher co-operatives. Expand fish sanctuaries in ecologically critical areas, such as the haor basin, to safeguard small indigenous fish species (SIS) that cannot easily be farmed in ponds. 6. Clean up industrial and agrochemical runoff
Make effluent treatment plants (ETPs) mandatory in all industrial units and ensure that they operate continuously. Carry out routine water quality testing across major river networks. Plant native riparian trees, such as hijol and koroch, along wetland dykes to prevent soil erosion and create naturally shaded habitats for aquatic life. The way forward
Bangladesh has repeatedly demonstrated its capacity for agricultural innovation. Our scientists have developed climate-resilient fish strains, and our farmers have made the country the world’s fifth-largest aquaculture producer. But our continued failure to protect inland open waters has cost us wild fish stocks and capture fisheries production. Habitat loss, environmental degradation and illegal fishing have left 64 freshwater fish species threatened with extinction (IUCN, 2015).
Farmed fish alone cannot meet our nutritional needs or preserve our natural heritage. The survival of Bangladesh’s fisheries depends on the health of its natural water systems. If it stops industrial pollution and wetland destruction, revives inland capture fisheries and combines modern technology with community-based management, Bangladesh can secure affordable protein for all and leave clean, living rivers for future generations.
Focusing on fish farming alone, while inland capture fisheries are neglected, will put aquatic ecosystems at further risk, worsen water scarcity and destabilise agriculture more widely. In the end, it could cause serious damage to the national economy.