Study on regional variation of pond fish production in Bangladesh

Abstract

Fish and fisheries sector play an important role for its fourfold contribution - in GOP, in export earnings, in employment generation and most importantly in protein diet. In a large growing population with a rapid urbanising economy in Bangladesh, demand on food items are increasing and at the same time available land for agricultural purposes are declining. The incremental demand will need to be derived by increasing production per unit area. Furthermore, the present environmental degradation due to considerable decrease of the river bed is creating harm for the open water fish population. In this concern, it is important to search for some alternative sources which can protect this sector to a greater extent. Fish farming particularly pond fish culture is one of the fastest growing economic activities in Bangladesh. This study has made an attempt to analyse the regional variation of pond fish production, identified the responsible factors of growth and reviewed socio- . . economic and some other factors which affect fish farming in Bangladesh. The study has analysed the contribution of fisheries sector to GOP, trend of fisheries production and trend of pond fish production compared to other sources. It has also examined the performance in pond fish production using the annual compound rate of growth (%) and share of pond fish production of the districts. The study tries to analyse the relation between growth and performance of pond fish production in the districts of Bangladesh. Maps have been prepared with the calculated data of annual compound growth rate and share of pond production to show the regional concentration of growth and production performance. A multiple regression analysis is carried out to identify the factors responsible for pond fish production performance with the dependent variable- Volume of Pond Fish Production (per thousand population) in 61 district and independent variables - Literacy Rate, Per Capita Income, Road Density, Contribution of Non-agriculture sector to GOP, Per Unit Cultivated Area, Urbanisation Rate, Number of Cooperative Markets in all Districts and Number of the Member of Cooperative Markets in all Districts. It finds that, road xii density, per unit cultivated pond area and contribution of non-agriculture sector are important factors of variation in production. This study has also made some review of previous studies on the socia-economic factors of pond fish farmers. It has also examined the effect on poverty, income, employment opportunity and regional development for pond fish farming in Bangladesh. The study has made an analysis of the present policy, institutional and legal framework regarding fisheries sector in Bangladesh. According to the analysis and discussion on the pond fish production situation in Bangladesh, some policy suggestions have also been recommended for the sustainable production performance.