Aquaculture Sub-strategy, 2006.

The approach to developing the Aquaculture Sub-strategy was three-fold: 1. A review of the key documents that lay out the principles upon which the Government of Bangladesh and its cooperating partners are planning and implementing their development activities and the identification of those principles and objectives that relate to aquaculture extension. 2. An extensive consultative process involving different stakeholders in aquaculture to clarify the current problems and agree on means of overcoming these. 3. The summarizing of the findings 1 and 2 under eight agreed themes to provide an Aquaculture Sub-strategy and the basis for the subsequent development of an Action Plan upon which the Department of Fisheries can develop its aquaculture activities in a rational manner (pag. 3).
The objectives of the National Fisheries Policy are: 1. enhance fisheries production and development; 2. alleviate poverty through creating self-employment and improvement of socioeconomic conditions of fishers; 3. meet the demand for animal protein; 4. achieve economic growth and increased foreign currency earnings by exporting fish and fisheries products; 5. maintain an ecological balance, conserve biodiversity and improve public health Mandate of the Department of Fisheries Under the National Fisheries Policy the following tasks are specific to this sub-strategy: The private sector shall be responsible for the commercial production of fish fry. The private sector will be encouraged to establish more hatcheries for fry production. Arrangements will be made to transfer the improved technologies for aquaculture through regular training in the government fish farms and training centres. Brood banks shall be established in the government farms for distribution of quality brood to the private hatcheries. The government hatcheries/farms will also be used as centres for training farmers and entrepreneurs in fish culture management, fish breeding and fry production technologies. The objectives of the Aquaculture Sub-strategy are: provision, by the Department of Fisheries and partners, of a support and regulatory framework that will enable the aquaculture sector to develop in its ability to generate a livelihood for the rural dwellers in so doing provide employment for the rural populace and by supplying quality fish at an affordable price to the consumer. The components of the Aquaculture Sub-strategy are: Aquaculture resources; Regulatory Framework; Certification and Quality Assurance; Support Services; Co-ordination, Collaboration and Linkages; Environment; Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; Human Resource Management (pag. 6).
The future development of aquaculture depends on the status of existing resources and the potential for bringing more resources under management using aquaculture principles. Surveys have been undertaken in the past, but the rapid growth of the aquaculture sector has meant that most statistics on current resources are no longer valid (pag. 7). The key to determine how well development is proceeding depends on having a clear understanding of the baseline and what targets are being sought. These should include setting targets for: Production levels for different systems, species and management levels; Impact on supporting the objectives of the PRSP in poverty alleviation; Impact of regulations on achieving improvements in quality and availability of improved fingerlings and feed; and National distribution of aquaculture development and its role in regional development (pag. 15).
The Strategy aims also at having an increased awareness among all stakeholders of both the impact that aquaculture can have on biodiversity/the environment and the impact the environment can have on aquaculture so that they can participate in the identification and mitigation of adverse effects. The development of recent policy documents such as the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and the increased acceptance of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishers place an increased onus on fisheries to be done in a conscientious way to ensure that the environment is not adversely affected by its activities. This requires a good understanding of the potential impacts (pag. 14).