Open Water Management: Status, Strategies and Recommendation

Introduction:

Water management is the control and movement of water resources to minimize damage to life and property and to maximize efficient beneficial use.

In another word, Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and optimum use of water resources under defined water policies and regulations. It includes:

Management of water treatment of drinking water, industrial water, sewage or wastewater.

Management of water resources. Management of flood protection. Management of irrigation. Management of the water table.

Management Strategies

Management strategies are typically employed for the resource that is desired to be maintained or improved, and tend to be specific for each resource.

General geographical and economic data

Recent information has been found that

Area** 143,998 sq km (2014)Water area** 13,830 sq km (2014)Shelf area (down to 200 m) 67 000 sq km (2007)Length of continental coastline** 580 km (2014)Agricultural GDP (2005-2006) US$ 901.78 millionFisheries GDP (2005- 2006) US$ 236.48 millionTotal renewable water resources 1,227 cu km (2011)

*Bangladesh get 19,467square km out of 25,602 sq km disputed area in the Bay of Bengal in 2013.**http://www.Indexmundi.com/bangladesh/geography profile.html

Open water resources

Bangladesh is divisible into three broad physiographic regions. The floodplains, terraces and hills occupy about 80, 8 and 12 percent respectively of the land area. The inland open water fisheries of Bangladesh are highly diverged and unique and are based on extensive networks of floodplains, large and small rivers, beels (relatively large surface, static water bodies that accumulate surface run-off through internal drainage channels), haors (back swamps or bowl-shaped depressions between the natural levees of rivers) and baors (oxbow lakes created due to meandering rivers which changed course, and cut-off from the main course), all offering

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wide scope and potential for fish production. Bangladesh has also large impounded water areas in the form of man-made ponds, ditches, borrow pits, lakes and enclosures (DOF, 2005). Moreover, it is a country dominated by wetlands having more than 50 percent of its territory under freshwater marshes, swamps, rivers estuaries and the world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest – the Sundarbans.

Table:1. The inland water resource types and the proportionate contribution of each to total fish production in Bangladesh (2007-2008)

The inland open-water fisheries of Bangladesh include rivers (including estuaries), canals, beels, floodplains, Sundarbans and Kaptai Lake. All these water bodies cover an area of 4.05 million ha, which is about 94% of the total areas of the inland fisheries of the country.

Management Programs:

Management applied to inland open water fisheries

The major fisheries and livelihoods of the poor fishermen mainly depend upon the open water fishing. Overexploitation is a major problem, in many cases resulting in loss of species diversity from many water bodies of the country; however, to maintain the stock and production from open water fisheries, the following management attempts have been made:

• Enhancement of stock by releasing fish fingerling in open water.• Community-based Fisheries Management has shown most success in maintaining

open water bodies.• Leasing and licensing for fishing of ‘Jolmohal’ areas of waterbodies belongs to the

government.• Fish culture in food plain areas. A Daudkandi model has been proposed by the DoF.• Hilsha conservation effort by restricting fishing of the migratory juvenile hilsha in the

river in rainy season.

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• Restricting gear and fishing of fecund fishes in the breeding season.• Conserving the only major carp breeding sites at Halda River.• Habitat restoration programs, including excavation of the beel.• Establishment of fish sanctuary

Management applied to marine fisheries

The management of marine fisheries are basically met by closed season and input control, i.e. licensing of fishing vessels. DoF lacks any research vessel and for MSC purposes relies on the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard. In the 2004-2005 fiscal years, 122 trawlers were licensed to fish; there is no control over the artisanal sector. Government has also banned the use of set bag nets and a complete ban on shrimp fry catchers along the coastal belt to preserve the biodiversity. All these management activities are executed under the Marine Fisheries Ordinance 1983, as well as Marine Fisheries Rules 1983.

Revenue Oriented Management System

The revenue oriented management system is an old system in which the open-water bodies are leased out segmentally either to the fishermen or to the middlemen for a period of 1-3 years. This traditional leasing system is much more revenue oriented which ignores the welfare of the fishermen as well as resource development. In the existing leasing system of the water body, the genuine fishermen are deprived from their fishing rights as they cannot compete in the bidding processes with the wealthy middlemen. To secure fishing rights, the fishermen are to pay money or a share of catch to the lease holder. Due to short term nature of the leasing systems, the lease holders do not derive any incentive to undertake conservation measures; rather they harvest fish as much as possible for obtaining maximum benefit.

Community-Based Fisheries Management in Bangladesh

The community-based fisheries management (CBFM) initiative, implemented by Bangladesh’s Department of Fisheries in partnership with the world Fish Center and 11 NGOs, thus aimed to use research-based approaches to promote more equal access to sustainably managed inland fisheries to be run by community-based organizations (CBOs). The CBOs would then establish sustainable fisheries practices such as creating fish sanctuaries, restoring habitats and reintroducing endangered species.

Management Steps taken by different agencies:

Fisheries institutions

The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MOFL) is the major public sector institutions in the fisheries sector. For the fisheries matters it includes the Department of Fisheries (DOF), the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) and the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC). The Upazila administration contains a fisheries office technically guided by DOF. The administration of the sector comprises about 5,200 persons, including some 1,200 professionals.

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Non-Government Organizations (NGO) and aid agencies

NGOs are becoming increasingly active in the fisheries sector. There are close to 300 NGOs in the country – about 30% of them are funded externally. NGOs involved in fisheries mainly work on promoting aquaculture, and to a lesser extent on community based management of wetlands. Only very recently, a few NGOs have become involved in cooperative based fish sanctuary management involving traditional fishermen.

External Influences in the Fisheries Sector

Donors like IDA (World Bank), ADB, UNDP, FAO, ODA, IFAD, DANIDA, CARE, EU, USAID, CIDA, IUCN, and Ford Foundation are involve in Bangladesh’s fisheries sector with the aim of increasing the fish production and improving the fisheries management.

National Plan, Acts, rules and policies related to fish

National Plans

National development strategies and programs for the fisheries sector are formulated in the context of the country’s five-year development plans. The major objectives of fisheries sector development during the Fifth Five Year Plan (1996-2000) are to:

• Generate additional employment opportunities in fisheries and ancillary industries to help poverty alleviation;

• Increase fish production and improve nutritional level; • Improve socio-economic conditions of the fishermen, fish farmers and other engaged

in the fishery sub-sector; • Increase export earnings from shrimp, fish and fish products; • Improve environmental conditions; • Improve the biological and institutional management mechanisms for judicious use on

fisheries resources; and • Strengthening research, extension, management and co-ordination in order to transfer

technology and encourage production activities in the private sector.

National Water Policy, 1997

Availability of water is essential for sustenance and growth of fisheries sector. Accordingly several provisions have been made on the National Water Policy that include the following:

(i) fisheries will receive due emphasis in water resources planning when the anticipated social impact is high;

(ii) attempt will be made to keep the impact on natural aquatic environment to a minimum;

(iii) state owned swamps and marshes that are important for fish, waterfowl and other wild life will not be drained; (iv)

(iv) water bodies such as haor, boar, beel, road-side ditch will be reserved for fish production and development to the extent possible;

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(v) perennial links of these water bodies with rivers will be properly maintained;(vi) water resources projects will not interrupt fish movement and adequate provisions

in controlled structure will be made to allow fish migration and breeding;(vii) Brackish aquaculture will be confined to specific zones designated by the

Government for this purpose.

National Fish Policy, 1998

With the growing importance of the fisheries sector, Bangladesh Government formulated the National Fish Policy in 1998 for sustainable management of fisheries resources. For open water fisheries, the policy calls for minimizing damage on fish and fish habitat during development activities. It aims for improving the current leasing system to ensure participation of real fishermen in fisheries management. The policy also calls for setting up fish sanctuary, open water stocking and integrated fish cum rice farming. The policy specifically prohibits draining out of natural open water bodies.

New Fisheries Management Policy

The main objective of the new management policy is to free the fishermen from exploitation by the middlemen lease-holders by eliminating them through licensing system to genuine fishermen and to ensure better conservation of fish resources. The new policy has been implemented on a pilot-scale basis in May, 1987 in 3 selected areas representing the various types of water bodies of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) has been conducting monitoring activities of these management programs.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are made by the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) for obtaining sustainable yield from open-water fisheries.

i) Research should be carried out on the stock assessment, population dynamics and exploitation rate of commercially important fishes specially hilsa, major carps, catfishes and shrimps for their effective management.

ii) Studies should be carried out on the limnology of different types of inland open waterbodies such as rivers, khals, canals, beels and floodplains.

iii) Studies should be carried out on the toxic effect of different industrial effluents and pesticides to fish and other aquatic organisms.

iv) A research programme should be undertaken to assess the impact of FCD project on fish, other aquatic organisms and ecology of fish habitats by comparing all these parameters just before and immediately after the completion of the projects.

v) Studies should be carried out on the species composition of different types of open-water habitats to identify the species which are at the verge of extinction and to suggest measures for their propagation through artificial means.

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vi) Studies should be carried out on the biodiversity of different types of open-water habitats.

vii) Researches should be conducted on the migration and stocks of Hilsa ilisha to determine its route of migration, types of migration, seasons of migration and migratory circuit of its different stocks.

CONCLUSIONS:

A renewable resource like fish, when under intense exploitation, needs a management regime as it is not inexhaustible. Therefore, management measures should be applied in such a way that young fish are protected to grow before capture and enough are left as breeding stock for future generations. The management measures should include – regulation of fishing intensity at sustainable level, control gear selectivity, gear type and size of fish harvested, closed season, prohibition of destructive fishing, closed fish sanctuaries, and allocation of resources to different types of fisheries.

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References:

Aguero, M. S. Haq, A. K. Rahman, and M. Ahmed, eds. Inland Fisheries Management in Bangladesh. DOF, Dhaka: BCAS, Dhaka and ICLARM, Manila, 1989.

Ali, M. Yuosouff. Fish, Water and People Reflections on inland openwater fisheries resources of Bangladesh. The university press limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1997.

Ali, M.Y. Towards sustainable development: Fisheries resource of Bangladesh. Ministry of Environment and Forest and National Conservation Strategy Sect, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council. 1991, Dhaka. pp. 56.

Abery, N.W., Sukadi, F., Budhiman, A.A., Kartamihardja, E.S., Koeshendrajana, S., Buddhiman & De Silva, S.S. 2005. Fisheries and cage culture of three reservoirs in west Java, Indonesia; a case study of ambitious developments and resulting interactions. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 12, 315-330.

DOF, 2002. Fishery statistical year book of Bangladesh: 2001-2002. Department of Fisheries, 19 Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

DOF, 2003. Brief on Department of Fisheries Bangladesh. Department of Fisheries, Ministry of 21 Fisheries and Livestock, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Ahmad, I., Bland, S.J.R., Price, C.R., Kershaw, R., 1998. Open water stocking in Bangladesh: 2 experiences from the Third Fisheries Project. In: Petr, T. (Ed.), Inland Fishery Enhancements. FAO

Ahmed, M., Capistrano, A.D., Hossain, M., 1997. Experience of partnership models for the co-5 management of Bangladesh fisheries. Fish. Manage. Ecol. 4, 233–248.

Hossain, S.M., 2001. Biological aspects of the coastal and marine environment of Bangladesh. Ocean 22 Coast. Manage. 44, 261–282.

Middendorp, H.A.J., Thompson, P.M., 1999. Pomeroy, R. S., (Ed.). Sustainable Inland Fisheries 24 Management in Bangladesh. ICLARM Conf. Proc. 58, Manila.

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