This report describes the process, achievements and learnings of a subproject which set out to learn by doing pilot extension activities, and give direction to the development of a fisheries extension service aimed at the coastal and estuarine small-scale fisherfolk of Bangladesh. The subproject was cleared by the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) in April 1989 and was initiated in the two target districts of Borguna and Patuakhali in July 1989. Along the way, the UNFPA proposed a component aimed specifically at enabling the development of women in fishing communities. However, the main phase of the activity could not be funded by UNFPA, and a scaled-down version was incorporated into the subproject in July 1991 by the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP). The main component of the subproject, consisting of 19 pilot activities, came to an end in December 1992 and the women’s activities came to an end in September 1993.

The Bangladesh Department of Fisheries (DOF) was responsible for the execution of the subproject. BOBP provided technical assistance, expertise, training inputs, support for training, grants to establish revolving funds for enterprise development, equipment and monitoring. The training was designed and coordinated by Mr. Md. Shahid Hossain Talukder and provided by a group of Bangladeshi trainers drawn from various nongovernmental organizations.