(01) By Ordinance No. XLV of 1984, entitled “The Fisheries Research Institute Ordinance, 1984”, the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh created the Fisheries Research Institute on 11 July, 1984.
(02) Before establishment of the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) investigations relating to fish capture and fish culture were carried out in a non-coordinated way under the Directorate of Fisheries (DOF), mostly in the context of (regional) development projects. Furthermore, fisheries studies are undertaken by the universities in Chittagong, Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Rajshahi, and by the Institute of Food Science and Technology of the Bangladesh Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) in Dhaka. The BCSIR studies are strictly directed towards processing technology (with industry as the major client); a large part of the other research is farmer- or fishermen-oriented and based on trial-and-error experiments. Research directed towards resource management (marine, riverine, and large freshwater bodies) is still at the level of basic data collection.
(03) The mandate of FRI is to assist in the relevant
objectives of the national Third Five Year Plan for development, viz.
increase of fish production for domestic consumption and for export
purposes, and creation of more and better jobs. These objectives are
to be assisted by FRI through concentration of combined research
efforts to achieve:
(on the one hand) solutions of problems that restrain growth and
development of the fisheries sector in Bangladesh, and
(on the other hand) introduction of new production opportunities
through development of new technologies, new products, and through
integration of fisheries with other agricultural production systems.
(04) FRI will fullfil its mandate by:
identification of priority needs for practical research in the fields of captural and cultural fisheries;
implementation of practical research in the identified priority areas;
co-ordination of its own research programmes with those carried out elsewhere in Bangladesh and abroad;
extension of relevant research outputs to its users;
training of scientists in the appropriate fields of research.
