Changing Significance of Inland Fisheries for Livelihoods and Nutrition in Bangladesh

SUMMARY

Fish is an essential and irreplaceable food in the rural Bangladesh diet. Inland capture fisheries are still the main source of fish in the diet. Although wetlands and fish habitat have been lost to drainage and flood control, the contribution of aquaculture to total fish production has been increasing in the last two decades.

The contribution of different species to fish intake as well as micro-nutrient intakes has been investigated based on food consumption studies. The main distinction is between small indigenous fish species (SIS), which typically are caught in open waters and floodplains, and larger species including carps (which are now largely cultured in ponds) and other fishes. The contribution of nutrient-minerals and especially vitamin A–from SIS is particularly important. Some SIS have very high vitamin A contents, whereas other fish, including carps have low vitamin A content. SIS that are eaten whole are also an important source of calcium. In addition, fish as part of a meal can enhance the intake of minerals present in other foods. Lastly, SIS are well-liked by the rural poor and are considered tasty and nutritious.

Case studies of fisheries and aquaculture interventions in Bangladesh indicate that SIS still contribute more to fish consumption than do cultured species for both poor and rich households. Fish consumption levels and the proportion of SIS in the diet are seasonal, peaking in and immediately after the wet season. Examples of community initiatives to protect over-wintering fish in local sanctuaries and to restore fish habitat and migration routes appear to have increased fish catches and consumption. Where beel (lake) fisheries were enhanced by stocking carps, the user communities benefited from higher catches and incomes. However, it seemed that fish consumption for non-participants increase where fishing was not limited, but fell where they were excluded from fishing by participants.

Extension efforts have encouraged rapid growth in aquaculture production in the last two decades. A case study indicated that increases in production were sustained and that practices had spread from extension participants. Declining capture fisheries and increasing carp production mean that carps have become relatively cheaper, and it has been seen that the proportion of carps to other fish sold doubled in less than a decade in some local markets. However, poor rural consumers without ponds are now more dependent on purchased fish, and increased production of carp from ponds does not compensate for substantial declines in their SIS catches from open waters. Aquaculture in flooded rice fields would normally exclude the poor, but there have been attempts where NGOs have organized landless people to benefit from stocking carps.

SIS can be included in pond aquaculture systems, and on-farm experiments show this can complement carp production by increasing production and cash returns. A focus on incorporating vitamin A rich SIS in aquaculture combined with widespread and concerted efforts to restore and sustainably manage the floodplain fisheries (which are dominated by SIS) can result in an important food-based strategy to improve micro-nutrient deficiencies in poor people in Bangladesh and similar flood-plains.

KEYWORDS:

• Fish consumption
• fish production
• inland fisheries
• nutrition
• small indigenous fish species
• vitamin A