Country review: Bangladesh

Peter Flewwelling and Gilles Hosch
^[104] FAO Consultants, Fishery Policy and Planning Division, Fisheries Department
December, 2003

INTRODUCTION

Bangladesh^[105] is rich in water resources, endowed with extensive flood plains drained by hundreds of rivers. Two large river systems, the Jamuna (Brahmaputra) and the Padma (Ganges), draining a substantial part of the north-eastern Indian sub-continent, laden with large quantities of suspended sediments, converge in Bangladesh’s interior, and give rise to a very fertile delta system irrigating the coastal plains of the Bay of Bengal to the south.

Bangladesh’s marine waters cover an area of roughly 166 000 km², of which the EEZ accounts for 141 000 km² (Flewwelling, 2000). The extent of the coastal shelf area (approximately 66 400 km² to the 200m mark) is rather important. A dynamic system of estuaries, islands and chars^[106] is located along the entire coast facing south (Mouths of the Ganges). Winter lasts for an average period of two months (mid-December to mid-February), with modal temperature values ranging between 25°-33°C, and average annual rainfall ranges between 1 700 mm to 3 200 mm. Bangladesh is prone to natural disasters, the most prominent being cyclones, storm surges and floods.

Population and economy

Population in mid-year 2002 was estimated at 135.7 million, growing at an average yearly rate of 1.7 percent. Illiteracy is estimated at 59 percent of population age 15+, rural population stands at 74 percent (i.e. 100+ million people), and 48 percent of children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition.^[107] The total harvest of aquatic resources in Bangladesh (marine, inland & aquaculture) covers between 60-80 percent of the animal protein needs of the country, per capita consumption being estimated at 14kg/year (DANIDA/DFID, 2003). The contribution of agriculture to GDP dropped from just under 1/3^rd in 1982 to just over 1/5^th in 2002. Fisheries and aquaculture contribute 5.24 percent to GDP, and 4.76 percent to foreign exchange earnings through exports.^[108] In 2001-2002 marine capture fisheries represented 22 percent of the total fishery production^[109] in volume.

The dependence of the rural communities on fisheries resources, both inland and coastal, is very high. It must be noted that the inland fisheries, especially in floodplain areas, form a major part of fisheries in Bangladesh. According to recent studies and figures (DANIDA/DFID, 2003) it appears that around 1.1 million people - landless and landowners - are directly involved in capture fisheries (i.e. catching fish). Of these, 37 percent (444 000) are involved in the coastal and marine fisheries. Nationwide (marine and inland combined), another 11 million are involved in fisheries on a part-time basis, and three million more gain sustenance from the value-adding and marketing sub-sectors.^[110] In Bangladesh, the poorest of the poor resort to fishing as a last livelihood option and represent the bulk of the fisherfolk. Table 1 provides an overview of the main marine fisheries capture sub-sectors, listing numbers of people participating in these fisheries, value added, and per capita daily returns on labour.

TABLE 1
Important marine fisheries sub-sectors, employment and returns (2000/2001)

Source: adapted from Table 8, “Marine Fisheries Sub-sectors”. (DANIDA/DFID, 2003)

Notes: this table integrates certain types of fisheries vertically (e.g. mechanized and non-mechanized gillnet fishery), so that figures do not coincide with figures in tables 2, 3, and 4; *: equivalent to US$484 356 000 at Sept. 2003 exchange rate US$1,00 = 59Tk (Sept. 2003 exchange rate)

POLICY FRAMEWORK

In 1998, a new National Fishery Policy was drafted and approved by the Government of Bangladesh (GOB). As its overarching goal, the Policy states, “poverty alleviation through creating self-employment and improvement of socio-economic conditions of the fishers”. This is in line with ongoing reforms in Bangladesh, hinging around a “pro-poor” growth strategy that the World Bank and the IMF are actively encouraging by pledging US$1billion in economic assistance for the fiscal year 2003-2004 (up 100 percent from the previous fiscal year), should reforms continue to progress at the present pace.

Inshore marine and estuarine fisheries are particularly affected by overfishing, environmental degradation, and multiple uses of water systems. The GOB has committed itself to protect the aquatic resources and habitats while seeking sustainable ways of maintaining resource benefits for the population. To this end, the government has drawn up a Perspective Development Plan for the period 1995-2010, providing direction to the fisheries sector and its development. Sustainable management of aquatic resources form an important part of the new National Fisheries Policy.

Specific objectives formulated in the last 5^th five-year Plan (1997-2002) were:^[111]

• increased fish production for improved nutritional standards;

• increased employment;

• improved environmental management;

• increased export revenues;

• improved socio-economic conditions for fishers and fish farmers;

• improved biological and institutional management mechanisms;

• strengthened research, extension and management co-ordination.

Notable in these objectives is the lack of responsible and sustainable management of fisheries. For example, the hilsa fishery^[112], the most important fishery in Bangladesh, does not have appropriate management planning or control measures to protect it from over-exploitation. Responsible fisheries management remains a major challenge to the GOB.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The Department of Fisheries (DOF) falls under the administrative control of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MOFL) and is headed by a Director General (DG), who is assisted by three Directors and two Principal Scientific Officers. The organization between MOFL and the districts is ordered into three levels, i.e. DOF in the capital city of Dhaka, headed by a DG, 64 District Fisheries Offices (of which 13 are coastal) headed each by a District Fisheries Officer (DFO), and Sub-District Offices (Upazilla Offices) headed by an Upazilla Fisheries Officer (UFO). Upazilla Offices number over 460 in total. The Marine Fisheries Ordinance provides for the delegation of a range of powers (enforcement, etc.) from the Director General to DFOs.

The base law is the Marine Fisheries Ordinance of 1983. It is applied through rules (equivalent of regulations), which were enacted in the same year as Marine Fisheries Rules, and amended in 1993.

A listing of a range of legal instruments related to, or impacting, marine capture fisheries management follows in reverse chronological order (FAOLex). More details on these regulatory tools are included in Annex B.

• Shrimp Culture Users Tax Ordinance, 1992

• Protection and Conservation of Fish Rules, 1985

• Ordinance to provide for the establishment of a Fisheries Research Institute, 1984

• Marine Fisheries Ordinance, 1983 (Ordinance No. XXXV)

• Marine Fisheries Rules, 1983

• Protection and Conservation (Amendment) Ordinance 1982 (Ordinance No. LV)

• Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Rules, 1977

• Allocation of functions to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (Schedule 1 of the Rules of Business, 1975

• Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation Act, 1973

• Government Fisheries (Protection) Ordinance, 1959

• Protection and Conservation of Fish Act, 1950 (East Bengal Act 18 of 1950)

Though not all current legislative instruments are listed,^[113] it is apparent that the current legal framework is old. It is also an isolated body of law, focused on core fisheries issues and could benefit from jurisdictional linkages to coastal land use and tenure law, mineral exploration law, shipping law, water management law, etc.

The fisheries in Bangladesh are intimately linked to water resource management and land tenure considerations on the inland side, and integrated coastal zone management issues on the marine side. Multiple-use patterns of the coastal zone, notably between industrial fishers, artisanal fishers and aquaculture farmers indicates the need for a body of law that integrates the management with future requirements, e.g. impact of hydrocarbon exploration, etc.

The need for integration of legislation is currently being addressed through the ICZM Programme^[114] which started in early 2002. This Programme provides a platform for decision makers and stakeholders to review current legislation related to the coastal zone through amendments, or to adopt a new integrated legal framework.

Current provisions in the ordinances and the rules are made for the protection and management of the resources, including, inter alia, the issuing of licenses, the keeping of logbooks, seasonal and spatial closures, effort control in industrial fisheries, gear specifications, as well as monitoring and law enforcement arrangements. Community-based fisheries management, and/or co-management arrangements are not part of the current management tools.

New legislation, banning in particular the practice of shrimp fry collection, aiming at phasing out the estuarine set bag net (ESBN) fishery, and foreseeing the declaration of an 800 km² marine reserve in the “South Patches”^[115] is currently being prepared by the DOF.

STATUS OF THE FISHERIES

The fisheries of Bangladesh fall into two geographical categories, coastal/marine and inland fisheries. Fish production is supplemented on the national level by an ever more important aquaculture sector. Marine, inland and aquaculture sectors impact each other at various levels. Figure 1 retraces the growth in the three sectors over the last five years, showing the continued growth in all three, yet indicating a levelling off of inland fisheries output, and a decrease in relative contribution of the latter to the overall national production. The total marine catch in the 2001/2002 period amounted to 415 420 mt, up 52 percent from five years earlier.

Functionally, marine capture fisheries can be further subdivided into subsistence, artisanal, commercial and industrial fisheries, the lines between the first three sub-sectors being fluid. As is the case for inland fisheries, where catches are declining due to resource exhaustion, marine capture fisheries are faced with overfishing, rising conflicts and evaporating resource rent.

All marine fishing occurs within the 100 m isobath, deep-water pelagic and demersal resources remaining wholly unexplored and untapped by Bangladesh fishers, although there are reports of significant illegal foreign fishing offshore, but it is not addressed due to a lack of surveillance activity. The only industrial fishing developed in Bangladesh is operating out of Chittagong on the east coast. Figure 2 shows the volumes of the artisanal catch^[116] and the industrial catch for three particular years over the last ten year period.

By volume, a fleet of 100 trawlers^[117] lands only six percent of the marine catch, artisanal fisheries accounting for 94 percent of the production. Data provided by DOF, especially those relating to artisanal catches, need to be consulted and used with caution due to the significant variance in data from enumerators deployed under the DFOs and UFOs^[118] to collect fishing effort data on the basis of gear units deployed per month per area monitored. These data are used to estimate total national catch on a yearly basis.

Table 2 provides an overview of the main industrial fisheries. There are only two distinct industrial fisheries in Bangladesh, and they target demersal shrimp and finfish resources.

TABLE 2
Industrial fisheries 2001/2002 - overview

Source: DOF data

The most important small-scale/artisanal fisheries are reported by DOF as mechanized gillnet fishery, shrimp fry collection, estuarine set bag net fishery, and trammel net fishery (see Table 3). In addition to these, non-mechanized gillnet fishing (35 125mt - 2001/02) and longline fishing (23 841mt - 2001/2002) are reported as two other major fisheries. Although these fisheries fall under “small-scale”, it needs to be borne in mind, that some are carried out with the simplest of means for purely commercial reasons, the shrimp fry collection fishery being the perfect example.^[119] The mechanized gillnet fishery is also a purely commercial fishery, carried out from small-scale motorized vessels.

TABLE 3
Small-scale fisheries 2001/2002 - overview

Source: DOF data

TABLE 4
Fishers and their catches

Source: DOF data
Note: n.a. = not available
*: DANIDA/DFID data
^¨: excluding shrimp fry collection

Shrimp fry collection, though very modest in contribution to total marine catch by volume, is thought to affect recruitment in wild populations, and the practice has come under serious scrutiny from the authorities. The same holds for the estuarine set bag net fishery (ESBN), which is becoming increasingly unpopular with the authorities, and has contributed especially to the overexploitation of white shrimp stocks.

In general terms, the coastal marine living resources have come under too much pressure from too many entrants into the various small-scale fisheries. There are tens of thousands of vessels, and hundreds of thousands of nets, lines and other pieces of gear that are concentrating in the inshore and coastal areas, targeting anything and everything from post-larval shrimp to mature finfish.^[120] Conflicts within and between fisheries are rising, and scores of mechanized small-scale vessel operators are reported to be unable to cover operational costs - depending on the area and the fishery.

Catch per unit effort (CPUE) estimates and trends cannot be established for lack of appropriate data. One full frame survey was conducted in 1984, and no gear or vessel unit data had been collected until a “token survey” was carried out in 2000-2001, under which gear and vessel numbers were updated.^[121] It is thus difficult to establish a clearer picture of exploitation patterns. In general terms, it appears that the coastal fisheries resources, traditionally less exploited than inland resources (see figure 1), have come under pressure, as faltering inland fisheries yield less and less. Effort has partially been diverted to marine waters, and the old tragedy of the commons is now showing in coastal waters, where “open access” is the current management strategy.

MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY

From a practical point of view, management activity can be subdivided into two parts: management of the industrial fisheries and management of the artisanal fisheries.

Regarding industrial fisheries (shrimp & fish trawlers), the following is to be noted in terms of moving toward managed fisheries: a) the vessels are being licensed, and b) the DOF has put a cap on the number of vessels permitted to enter the fisheries, currently standing at 100 units.^[122] However, although some management tools are provided for in these fisheries (spatial closures, mesh size restrictions, etc.), specific, detailed fisheries management plans do not exist.

Other points to note regarding the monitoring of the industrial fisheries in Bangladesh include:

• Flewwelling (2000) reports that industrial operators are obliged to maintain three vacant berths for trainees from the Marine Fisheries Academy aboard their vessels^[123], an arrangement that allows for effective at-sea training.

• It is reported that the district office in Chittagong conducts dockside inspections for the industrial fleet.^[124]

• The law provides for onboard observers, but there is currently no programme in place. There are neither at-sea inspections nor VMS in place, reportedly due to lack of operational means.

• Fishing Masters are requested to fill in logbooks, which are returned to the authorities for the purpose of developing catch statistics.

• Coast Guard and Navy are listed as support agencies, which can intervene in the fisheries law enforcement process.

• It is reported that penalties for non-compliance are applied in this sector.

With respect to artisanal fisheries, DOF officials report that management and legal provisions are not implemented in the field, partly due to weaknesses of the Ministry responsible for vessel registration.^[125] There are many fishing gears deployed that violate mesh size rules and other applicable restrictions. Closed areas are not actively policed, and licensing is not enforced. Vessel registration papers are a pre-requisite for obtaining a fishing license, creating a bureaucratic impasse that has led to an entire sector operating without licenses. This stands in diametric opposition with the legal provisions for licensing in the artisanal fisheries.^[126] Discussions and trials concerning community-based fisheries management (CBFM) have been initiated under a joint FAO/UNDP initiative, but are not yet applied.

In practical terms, there appears to be little to no law enforcement in the artisanal fisheries. DFOs and UFOs do not have delegated authority to enforce the law in the field, this task falling under the central authority of the “Marine Wing” of the DOF. In consequence, marine artisanal capture fisheries can be portrayed as open access, unregulated, multi-gear and multi-species fisheries.

The Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI), a quasi-governmental organization, is responsible for fisheries research and development activities. In budget terms it is reported that costs for fisheries research have decreased, possibly due to the cessation of research vessel operations. Research results are being used to inform management decisions on gear restrictions, such as those being currently envisaged for shrimp larvae collection and the estuarine set bag net fishery (ESBN).

COSTS AND REVENUES OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

The budget for fisheries management is reported as not having changed over the last ten years. In relative terms, Bangladesh currently directs some three percent of the total national budget towards the administration of the fisheries sector. In general terms it is reported that the limited funds available to the MOFL is hampering implementation of the management regimes.

Cost recovery is minimal, with no licenses being issued for 94 percent of the marine capture sector (by volume of landings), and hardly any penalties being applied. As mentioned earlier, only industrial trawlers pay licence fees. Taxes are reported as not applying in the fisheries.

IMPLEMENTATION OF GLOBAL FISHERIES MANDATES AND INITIATIVES

Bangladesh is currently not in a position to direct resources, human or financial, to address international initiatives in a substantive manner.

PARTICIPATION IN REGIONAL FISHERY BODIES

Bangladesh is a member of the Bay of Bengal Programme - Intergovernmental Organization (BOBP-IGO). This forum provides the MOFL and the DOF with “necessary support to conceptualize and implement management approaches in an effective manner”. Bangladesh is not a member of IOTC, which should be partly attributed to the fact that offshore pelagic resources are neither targeted nor exploited by Bangladesh at this point in time.

No national fisheries data are supplied to regional fisheries bodies.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Bangladesh is one of the least developed nations of this world, in which some ten to fifteen percent of the close to 138 million population is dependent on fisheries, and where fisheries is generally considered as the last bread-earning alternative for the poorest of the poor. Fisheries play a central role in the economy of the country and the food security of the people.

As inland fisheries landings have been reduced by overfishing, pressure on coastal fisheries resources has risen substantially over the last ten years, and coastal resource yields have started to decline substantially. Coastal fisheries, 94 percent artisanal by volume of landings, are mixed in terms of economic entrants (subsistence, mixed and commercial fishers), gears deployed and resources targeted. Access to the fisheries is open, and though rules are provided in the form of input controls, the implementation of regulations is weak. Offshore pelagic and deeper water resources are unexplored and unexploited. Signals of overfishing and stock exhaustion are perceptible and being reported from the coastal marine capture fisheries.

Inappropriate funding, weak institutional capacity and linkages, and an outdated legal framework all seem to contribute to an apparent paralysis of the fisheries management machinery. Delegation to, and empowerment of the DFOs and UFOs would be one way to bring fisheries management to the shoreline, and to start the process of administering the fisheries as provided for by the law.

In addition, the intricacies of rural livelihood strategies, the migration patterns, and the resource exploitation patterns within Bangladesh indicate the need for an integrated natural resource management plan, with marine capture fisheries being an inherent part.

REFERENCES

DANIDA-DFID. 2003, The Future for Fisheries. Findings and recommendations from the Fisheries Sector Review and Future Development Study, FAO Representation - Bangladesh, 65p. (available from http://www.lcgbangladesh.org/)

FAO. 1999a. Report of a Regional Workshop on Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance and Supplement 1, Country Reports, Regional Reports and Case Studies. Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, June/July1998, FAO, Rome.

FAO. 1999b. Country Fisheries Profile and Management Brief for Bangladesh, http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/

FAOLex Web site. Resumés of Fisheries Legal Texts. http://faolex.fao.org/faolex/

FAO Questionnaire, 2003. Overview of Marine Capture Fisheries Management - Bangladesh. FAO Rome. unpublished.

Flewwelling, P. 2000. Report on travel to Bangladesh. Mission Report No. 14, FishCode Project MCS, FAO, Rome.

Flewwelling, P. 2001. Fisheries Management and MCS in South Asia: Comparative Analysis. FAO, Rome.

ICZMP. 2003. Profile of the coastal zone of Bangladesh. Working draft. Programme Development Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Ministry of Fisheries (MOF). 2001. Brief on Department of Fisheries - Bangladesh. A5-size information brochure. 4p.

UNDP. 2003. Human Development Report 2003, New York - Oxford, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-521915-5, 367p.

APPENDIX TABLES

Current management of marine capture fisheries

Summary information for three largest fisheries (by volume) for the year 2001/2002

n.a. = not available
* Value in 2002 U.S. Dollars.
** % values are based on totals for each category of fishery.

Use of fishery management tools within the three largest fisheries

*: see footnote 20, page 9

Costs and funding sources of fisheries management within the three largest fisheries

Compliance and enforcement within the three largest fisheries

Capacity management within the three largest fisheries

ANNEX KEY REGULATIONS AND ORDINANCES OF BANGLADESH

Source: FAOLex

• Shrimp Culture Users Tax Ordinance, 1992

  Date of text: 1992

• Abstract: Shrimp cultivation areas developed by the Government by construction of embankments, excavation of canals, or other water management structures, shall be liable to payment of taxes.

• Protection and Conservation of Fish Rules, 1985

  Source:Bangladesh Gazette, 17 October 1985, pp. 7637-7645.

  Comments: This text implements the Protection and Conservation Fish Act, 1950

  Abstract: Regulations on protection and conservation of fish. The text contains 11 sections about various measures of protection and conservation and 2 Schedules specifying waters in which the catching of certain fish species is prohibited with-out a valid licence, specifying fish species of which the catching or sale in certain periods is prohibited, and containing a form of a licence for catching of carps in Prohibited Waters. Regulation 3 prohibits the erection of fixed engines in rivers and canals. No fish shall be destroyed through the use of poison or explosives (regs. 4 and 5). Licences issued under regulation 8 shall be issued only for purposes of pisciculture. Regulations prohibit the catching, carrying, transporting, offering for sale or possessing of frogs.

• Ordinance to provide for the establishment of a Fisheries Research Institute, 1984

  Source: Laws Regulating Environment in Bangladesh 1996, p. 358.

  Date of text: 1984

  Abstract: The Ordinance provides for the institution of the Fisheries Research Institute, its functions and tasks.

• Marine Fisheries Ordinance, 1983 (Ordinance No. XXXV)

  Source: Bangladesh Gazette, 19 July 1983, pp. 4419-4434.

  Abstract: This Ordinance has 11 Parts divided into 55 sections, i.e. Preliminary (I); Administration (II); General Provisions Governing Licences (III); Local Marine Fishing Operations (IV); Foreign Marine Fishing Operations (V); Appeal (VI); Prohibited Fishing Methods (VII); Marine Reserves (VIII); Powers of Authorized Officers (IX); Offences and Legal Procedures (X); Rules (XI).

  Under Part I, section 3 provides that the Government may exempt any non-mechanized and limited horsepower local fishing vessel from the general provi-sions governing licences. The Government may also determine a specific zone in which only the aforementioned vessels may engage in fishing operation (sect. 3(2)). Part II is devoted to administration. Under Part III fixing the general provisions governing licences, licences are not transferable except with written permission of the Director and the holder of a licence has a duty to provide information regard-ing catch. In order to be issued a licence, local fishing vessels shall be registered and shall have been inspected (Part IV). Fishing operations conducted by foreign fishing vessels are subject to prior authorization (Part V). Decision made by the Director or a fisheries officer can be appealed against (Part VI). Prohibited fishing methods are set out in Part VII and include use of explosives, and use of fishing nets with unlawful mesh size. For conservation and management purposes, the Government may declare any area of the Bangladesh fisheries waters and any adjacent or surrounding land to be a marine reserve (Part VIII). Part IX and X deal with powers of authorized officers and offences and legal procedures respectively. Lastly, Part XI sets out the matters upon which the Government is authorized to make rules.

• Marine Fisheries Rules, 1983

  Abstract: These rules are made under the Marine Fisheries Ordinance (No. XXXV of 1983). They regulate the issuance and conditions of fishing licences for national and foreign fishing vessels, determining licence conditions, allowed fishing gear, mesh size, etc. Licences, unless determined otherwise in an individual licence, shall expire on 31 December of the year of issuance. Allowed fishing areas are deter-mined according to type of fishing gear used, for example, for fishing with set bag nets, up to 40 meters depth in marine waters at high tide. Model application forms for licences as well as an obligatory catch record form are annexed to the text.

• Protection and Conservation (Amendment) Ordinance 1982 (Ordinance No. LV)

  Source: Bangladesh Gazette, 15 December 1982, pp. 4991-4993.

  Long title: An Ordinance to further amend the Protection and Conservation of Fish Act, 1950.

  Abstract: The amendments mainly concern definitions and technical matters. A new definition of fish is given: “fish” includes all cartilaginous, bony fish, prawn, shrimp, amphibians, tortoise, turtles, crustacean animals, molluscs, echinoderms and frogs at all stages in their life history. (11 sections)

• Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Rules, 1977

  Source: Bangladesh Gazette, 8 February 1978, pp. 473-477.

  Abstract: These Rules implement Act No. XXVI of 1974 noting the declaration of the territorial waters and maritime zones. The 16 sections regulate conduct of foreign ships in territorial waters, activities in the economic zone and on the Continental Shelf, the application of custom and fiscal laws to the economic zone.

• Allocation of functions to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (Schedule 1 of the Rules of Business, 1975

  Abstract: This Schedule defines the functions of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock relative to fisheries. Functions include: preparation of schemes and coordination of national policy in respect of fisheries; prevention of fish diseases; development of fisheries resources; management of fish farms and conservation of fish; refrigeration and cold storage; issuing licences to fishing vessels; fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters; feasibility studies and research on fisheries.

• Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation Act, 1973

  Date of text: 1973-09-21

  Abstract: A Corporation by the name of the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation is established for purposes of development of the fishing industry of Bangladesh. “Fishing industry “includes also fish processing and marketing. The Corporation shall have the power to: (a) establish units for fishing, and for the preservation, processing, distribution and marketing of fish and fish products; (b) to advance loans to the fishing industry and cooperatives of fishermen; (c) encour-age establishment of such cooperatives; (d) undertake monitoring of fish resources; (e) set up organizations for the exportation of fish and fish products, etc. The management of the Corporation shall be vested in the Board of Directors to be appointed by the Government. The Government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

• Government Fisheries (Protection) Ordinance, 1959

  Abstract: The abstract is divided into ten sections: 1) Short title, extent and com-mencement; 2) Definitions; 3) Declaration of a fishery to be a khas managed fishery; 4) Bar to unauthorized fishing in khas managed fisheries; 5) Carrying of valid licence of fishing and production of the same; 6) Bar to unauthorized fishing in other fisheries; 7) authorization by Government to question illegal fishing; 8) Exemption; 9) Penal clauses; 10) Rule making power.

• Protection and Conservation of Fish Act, 1950 (East Bengal Act 18 of 1950)
  Long title: An Act to provide for the protection and conservation of fish in Bangladesh.

  Comments: The Act has been amended by the East Pakistan Act II of 1964 and the East Pakistan Ordinance No. 26 of 1970, Ordinance No. LV of 1982.

  Abstract: The text of the Act consists of nine sections: Short title, extent and com-mencement (1); Definitions (2); Power to make and apply rules, power to permit catching of fish for certain purposes, provision for seizure, removal and forfeiture of fixed engine, forfeiture and disposal of fish (3); Power to prohibit sale of fish (4); Penalties (5); Arrest without warrant, detention of arrested person (6); Cognizance of offence (7); Officers to be deemed public servants (8); Indemnity (9).

  Pursuant to section 3 the Government may make rules with respect to matters of fish resources conservation specified in the section. The Government may also, by Notification in the Official Gazette, prohibit for a specified period the sale and related activities of fish under the prescribed size of any prescribed fish species (sect. 4). Section 5 provides for penalties for the breach of rules made under section 3 and 4. Sections 6 to 9 make provision for arrest without a warrant, detention of an arrested person, legal proceedings, and powers of Fishery Officers.