Bangladesh has a significant wetland area where marine and freshwater biodiversity supports lively-hoods, food security, and nutrition for millions of people both directly and indirectly (FAO, 2020). The fisheries sector contributes 3.57% to our national GDP and more than one-fourth (26.50%) to agri-cultural GDP, according to Bangladesh Economic Review, (2021). Fish accounts for 60% of total national daily animal protein consumption (with a per capita consumption of 62.58 g/day versus a tar-get demand of 60 g/day) (DoF, 2019). Fish was the most popular protein source (in weight) by Bangla-desh is in 2019, with 21.8 kg consumed per capita. Over the last two decades, per-capita fish consump-tion has raised by 1.6 times, from 14.1 kg per year in 2000 to 22.84 kg per year in 2020 (BER, 2021). Fisheries sector contributes significantly following an increase in production by 1.4 times since 2001-02 up to 4.53 million MT in 2019-20, by 2.7% year-on-year. The enriched and diversified fisheries resources of the country are broadly divided into three cate-gories: inland capture fisheries, inland aquaculture and marine fisheries, of which the inland fish-culture sector is contributing more than 56.76 % of the total production (DoF, 2019). Bangladesh came in third in inland open water capture production, fifth in overall fisheries production and 11th in marine fish pro-duction according to "The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture" report. Currently Bangladesh ranks 4th in tilapia production in the world and 3rd in Asia (FAO, 2020). In the last 10 years, Bangladesh has risen to the second position in terms of growth rate of fish production in inland water bodies. The national fish hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) as a single species has been making the highest contribution (12.15%) to the countrys total fish production (FRSS, 2020). 

Moreover, Bangladesh ranked 1st among 11 Hilsa producing countries in the world (BER, 2021). The entire fisheries sector directly and indirectly supports the livelihoods of more than 12% of the countrys population, or 18 million people (Acharjee et al., 2021). For their livelihoods80 percent of laborers, or 1.4 million women work in the fisheries sector, which includes fishing, farming, handling fish, and processing (BFTI, 2016). Over the last 12 years (2006-07 to 2018-19), the fisheries sectors com-pound annual growth rate (CAGR) has been 5.01 percent, with consistent average fish-culture growth of roughly 8.59 percent (DoF, 2019). Exports of fish and fisheries products bring in 477.37 million dollars to the country (EPB, 2021). Bangladesh exports fisheries products to about 50 nations worldwide, in-cluding the European Union (EU), the United States, and Japan (EPB, 2021). Inland cultural fisheries pro-duce 24.89 million MT in 2018-19, accounting for 84.95 percent of overall production and spanning an area of around 8.22 million hectares. Coastal fishe-ries include shrimp, prawns, and finfish farming, as well as shrimp growing in ghers (ponds/enclosures) (Shamsuzzaman et al., 2020). Capture fish produc-tion is currently down to roughly 50%, with a downward trend of 1.24 percent every year (Hossain, 2014). Fisheries, as opposed to has been Bangla-deshs fastest-growing food-producing sector for decades, with constant increases in overall produc-tion. In order to address the existing challenges with inland catch fisheries, inland culturing has exploded, gaining special attention from farmers. Because of its rapid spread, fisheries are generally regarded to have the ability to enhance food security among adopters and the general public. Fisheries are consi-dered to promote food security both directly and indirectly by contributing to farm diversification, womens empowerment, and the creation of new employment opportunities and revenue streams. Fish-eries have been advocated for decades as a vehicle for rural economic development with an emphasis on poverty alleviation as a result of this rationale (Temesgen, 2020; Dey et al., 2005).

However, literature addresses the linkage of fisheries sector with relevance to development (e.g., the eco-nomic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability). Therefore, considering aforemen-tioned facts, this paper attempts to explore the fish-cultures role for contributing to the favorable changes to the extensive economy of Bangladesh. 

This is an exclusive review paper. So, no precise methodology is involved to prepare this study. All of the data and information was gathered from second-ary sources. Topic-related books, journals, proceed-ings, reports, publications, and annual reports were among the secondary materials. Various published publications from various journals aided in the gat-hering of data for this article. 

The data was gathered from multiple sources, in-cluding the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh, and the Bangladesh Dept. of Fisheries Fisheries Statistical Report. The study was written without any primary data or empirical research. The study has a unique objective to get familiar with the role of fisheries sector to the eco-nomic development in Bangladesh. For meeting the specific objectives, the economic position of various fish spices is studied in this study utilizing various graphs and figures. 

The yearly growth rate of fisheries since the last 30 years and the export status of shrimp culture over the last 20 years are being classified into showcases. The supply chain for fisheries in the domestic and urban markets is being developed and middleman perfor-mance is being discovered. All essential data was thoroughly collected and sorted after it was gathered.

Overview of fisheries production status in various water resources 

There was no primary data or empirical research in the study. The findings on this topic were reviewed using the library and website of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU). Information was acquired from a variety of sources, including Google, Google Scholar, and others. Further-more, I completed this work with the assistance of required comments and precise information from my acclaimed main professor and course instructors. All essential data was indirectly collected and sorted after it was gathered. Ponds had the highest output of inland closed water or culture fisheries, with 4964 kg/ha, and cage culture had the lowest productivity, with 22 kg/cu. Shrimp and prawn farms produced 2.58 lakh MT per year, accounting for 5.89 percent of total production, making them the second largest culture fisheries sub-sector (DoF, 2019). Fig. 1 shows in 1983-84, when inland capture fisheries accounted for 63 percent of production and inland culture fishery accounted for just 15 percent, the situation has changed in sub-sequent years, with inland culture fishery accounting for 56.76 percent. In the case of marine fisheries, production increased by 22% in 1983-84. However, in recent years, the yield of marine fisheries has decreased. In 2018-19, marine fisheries contributed 15.05% of total fish production (Fig. 1). In 2018-19, marine fisheries contributed 15.05% of total fish production in (Fig. 1).

Fig. 2: Fisheries production trends compared to inland and marine capture fishery in Bangladesh over the years (1988-89 to 2018-19) (Source: DoF, 2019).

Fish production trend over the last 30 years

Total fish production in Bangladesh has increased 5.21 times in the last three decades from FY 1988-89 to FY 2018-19 year (Source: BBS, 2020). In 2000-01 there was a production of 17.81 lakh metric tons while it reached up to 43.84 lakh metric ton in 2018-19. A general trend of rising fish production was observed from 2008-09 to 2018-19 where the growth rate was 38.38 percent in the last 10 years. The yearly need for fish production was 40.50 lakh MT in 2016–17, whereas the annual output was 41.34 lakh MT, a significant accomplishment for the country. Fisheries production has expanded at a fast-er rate than inland and marine capture fisheries, as seen in Fig. 2. However, catches from open water-ways are dropping worldwide, including in Bang-ladesh, as for overfishing and habitat loss. Environ-mental degradation caused by massive construction of flood control structures, over-exploitation, abs-traction of water for irrigation, intensive agriculture and development activities, pollution, & destruction of mangrove forests are the main causes for the slow growth of capture fisheries (Hoq, 2003). As a result, culturing has the potential to play a key factor in mee- ting increased demand for fish in the coming years.

Background of Fish-culture in Bangladesh 

In its most basic form, fishery is the production of fish and other aquatic organisms, with farming in-dicating some type of intervention to boost output, as well as some form of private rights for the stock under intervention (Beveridge & Little 2002). Bang-ladesh is a section of the Ganges delta, which is Asias and the worlds most populous river delta region (Ericson et al., 2005). As a result, the country is characterized by a wide surface of Ganges, Brah-maputra, and Meghna River floodplains (80 percent) (World Bank, 2015). Rivers and inland water bodies occupy about 7% of Bangladeshs total land area, and their floodplains are regularly flooded during the monsoon season. Because of the climatic conditions and abundance of water bodies, fish production and harvesting are an imperative aspect of Bangladeshi rural life and cuisine. Over the last five decades, from 1970 to 2020, fisheries, or fish farming, have been the worlds fastest expanding agro-food bus-iness. Overfishing and habitat deprivation are re-ducing the number of fish caught in open oceans around the world, including Bangladesh. As a result, NGOs, government agencies, and private businesses have stepped up to develop better fish farming practices, particularly in ponds and floodplains. Fish-culture production systems in Bangladesh are pri-marily extensive and enhanced extensive, with some semi-intensive and, in a few cases, intense systems (Shamsuzzaman et al., 2020). Bangladeshs contri-bution to global fisheries and aquaculture has more than doubled, from 1.30 percent in 1995 to 2.93 percent in 2018 (FAO, 2020).

Contribution of inland culture fisheries

Inland fishery has traditionally witnessed the fastest increase, especially in pond aquaculture, which ac-counts for additional 80% of total reported fisheries and aquaculture, as shown in Fig. 3. Fish production has more than doubled from 10.63 lakh MT in 2008-09 to 24.89 lakh MT in 2018-19, demonstrating sustained increase. The inland cultural fishery en-compasses around 8.22 million hectares (FRSS, 2020). For pond, seasonal water body, baor (oxbow lake), and shrimp gher, the current unit area aqua-culture productions (Kg/Ha) are 4851, 1584, 1471, and 983, respectively. In 2018-19, pond fishery provided 45.04 percent (19, 74, 632 MT) of total fish output in Bangladesh (BBS, 2020). Pen and cage culture, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly popular and is presently the most extensively prac-ticed cultural system in Bangladesh. Coastal aqua-culture, including shrimp and prawn farming as well as finfish farming, is growing, and overall shrimp and prawn production has increased in the last 18 years (Shamsuzzaman et al., 2020).

Fig. 3: Sector wise total fisheries production in Bangladesh from 2001-02 to 2018-19 (Source: FRSS, 2020).

Pond production in different culture systems

Table 1: Fish cultivation (ponds) practices in 2018-19 (Source: DoF, 2019).

The Table 1 demonstrates that the semi-intensive culture approach is used to cultivate the greatest number of ponds. Semi-intensive and intensive farms produced 44.39 percent and 33.97 percent of total production, respectively. However, extremely inten-sive farms had the highest yield, with 21.89 MT/Ha. The year-round growth was positive and maximum in intensive farms, whereas it was negative in exten-sive and semi-intensive farms.

Species wise fisheries production

Fig. 4 reveals significant carp species like Catla catla, Labeo rohita, Cirrhinus mrigala, and Labeo calbasu, as well as exotic carp like silver carp (Hypo- phthalmichthys molitrix), grass carp (Ctenophary-ngodon idella), and common carp (Cyprinus carpio), are currently the most widely practiced and available in the market (FRSS, 2020). Live fishes such as koi (Anabas testudineus), singh (Heteropneustes fossilis), magur (Clarias batrachus), pabda (Ompok pabda), gulsha (Mystus cavasius), and others are gaining popularity these days. Both live fish and native carp fishes are in high demand and are gaining consumer preference (Shamsuzzaman et al., 2020). From 456 38 MT in the base year of 2001- 02, live fish pro-duction increased to 1.52 lakh MT in 2018-19 (FRSS, 2020).

Fig. 4: Comparative production of major inland fish species in Bangladesh (Source: FRSS, 2020).

Shrimp culture

Fig. 5 shows that total shrimp production was 2, 54, 367 MT in 2017-2018 (DoF, 2019). Shrimp produc-tion shielded 258681 hectares of farmland, yielding 983 kg per hectare and accounting for 5.95 percent of overall fisheries production. Inland shrimp pro-duction, including big and small shrimp from rivers, contributed 7.26 percent (18,461 MT), culture farm production contributed 51.34 percent (1, 30, 589 MT), flood plain area production contributed 19.25 percent (48,956 MT), and the rest of the shrimp pro-duction came from marine sources, accounting for 22.16 percent (56,361 MT). Overall, total shrimp production from inland aquaculture is increasing, with positive upward trends. Shrimp production in 2018 grew by nearly twofold compared to 2006, and by 3.23 % compared to 2017.

Fisheries Growth 

Bangladeshs fisheries industry has grown consider-ably over the previous three decades. Although fish farming is still a low-intensity semi-subsistence activity in this country, fast commercialization, pro-gressive intensification, and specialization have occ-urred over the previous decade, resulting in extra-ordinary growth in farmed fish production (Belton & Azad, 2012). Fisheries have been expanding horizon- tally on riverine floodplains that have been fenced to promote production intensification. Many crop far-mers have been converting their land to fish ponds in the recent years, primarily in Mymensingh and Raj-shahi, in what many believe is a natural occurrence related to the ever-decreasing benefit-cost ratio they are receiving from paddy farming. Since 1990, the average yearly increase (percentage) of aquaculture has been 10.81 1.79. Fig. 6 demonstrates that aqua-cultures yearly growth rate was only negative in 2003–2004, with the highest rates in 1995–1996 and 2008–2009. 

Fig. 6: Annual growth rate (%) of fish-culture during 1991-92 to 2018-19 (Source: DoF, 2019).

Marketing channels of fish 

The route-to-market of farmed fish is governed by an intricate network of dealers, distributors, financiers, and retailers, as shown in Fig. 7. In Bangladesh, any actor who trades and/or distributes fish earns a mark-up per kilogram of fish product. Aratdars sell fish at auction and are paid a commission, the size of which varies depending on the fish species. The paiker (or bepari) is in charge of transporting big quantities of fish. The farmer pays nikari and forias commission for establishing a link between the seller and the buyer. Fish is sold in urban areas by urban retailers, and fish is distributed to suburban areas by suburban retailers, who sell it at village markets. Aratdar is used by tilapia fish farmers to sell 85 percent of their fish to paiker. Fish farmers in Pangas sell 43% of their catch to paikers through aratdar, 54% to paikers directly, and 3% to merchants. Carp, tilapia, and pangas retailers sell the entire fish to end users.

Changes in household income of landless & soci-ally marginalized Adivasi (ethnic) communities 

In 2007, the Adivasi households targeted by the in-tervention had an average yearly income of roughly US$ 350; this amount increased dramatically (p ≤ 0.01), reaching over US$ 570 in 2009. Such a significant rise in income indicates that the project participants living conditions have improved in general. In 2009, the comparative contribution of fisheries or related value-chain activities to family income increased significantly in all intervention groups, reaching 29 percent. Fish-cultures propor-tionate contribution to cage-culture and non-project households income remained relatively stable.

In all groups, income from fish in 2007 refers to in-come from capture fisheries and related activities. In contrast, fishery value-chain groups, notably those that include fish and fingerling sellers, saw a signi-ficant increase in these activities proportional contri-bution to income, indicating that they are becoming increasingly important to peoples livelihoods.

Table 2: Changes in household incomes (US$) of Adivasi communities (Source: Pant et al., 2014).

(Note: Mean values with different superscripted letters denote statistically significant differences (p ≤ 0.01).

However, when related to the control group, the pond culture and rice-fish culture groups had a much-sophisticated contribution of fish farming to their family incomes, while it was still lower than the fish and fingerling trader groups.

Comparison of income and satisfaction levels of the shrimp farmer communities in coastal Bang-ladesh 

The proportion of farmers with incomes between USD 51 and 100 was higher. Following the imple-mentation of shrimp farming procedures, it was observed that the percentage of shrimp farmers with incomes between USD 101 and 150 increased from 16 to 36 percent (Fig. 8a). Only 2% of farmers made more than $150 per month before, but after switch-ing to shrimp farming that number rose to 26%.

Fig. 8: Comparison of income range (a) and level of satisfaction (b) among the shrimp farmers after shrimp farming (Source: Ray et al., 2021).

Shrimp farming, rather than rice growing, has emer-ged as a new lucrative business for residents of the southwest coastal region, according to the data (Hossain & Hasan, 2017). Shrimp aquaculture has resulted in a huge increase in the revenue of stake-holders. Approximately 72 percent of fish producers are completely satisfied with shrimp farming, while 4% are extremely satisfied (Fig. 8b). 

However, 16 percent were indifferent, meaning they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and only 8% was disappointed following shrimp farming. In comparison to rice farming, each and every farmer has expressed happiness with shrimp farming (Saha, 2017).

Fish-cultures effects on local food security from some selected fisheries practicing villages 

Fig. 9 shows the household food insecurity access scores of fisheries producers and "no fishing" house-holds, as well as the overall average. Fisheries-pro-ducing households showed lower household food in-security access scores (i.e. were more food secure) than "no fish-culture" households in all six villages from Mymensingh, Khulna, and Jessore districts. Food insecurity access ratings were from 1.6 to 2.2 for all Medila households, whether or not they con-ducted aquaculture. Household food insecurity acc-ess scores of "no fish-culture" families in Bawalia were more than twice as high as aquaponics pro-ducers (1.8 versus 4.1).

Fig. 9: Average household food insecurity access scores for households practicing and not practicing fisheries (Source: Belton et al., 2014).

Food insecurity access ratings of "no fish-culture" households were highly high (8.8 and 7.8) in Bil-pabla and Salabunia, exceeding those of fisheries households. Household food insecurity access scores of fish producers (2.4) and "no fisheries" households differed significantly in Naoga (6.1). These findings appear to indicate that households that are able to engage in fisheries benefit from significantly higher revenues, which translates to enhanced food security, whereas households that are unable to do so face a decline in food security.

Existing evidence on gender issues in fisheries value chains

Table 3 summarizes data from a range of sources on womens roles in fisheries value chains. In value chain nodes, women and men were employed in diff-erent proportions. Women have important roles in fish production, although they are frequently over-looked in value chain analysis (Rutaisire et al., 2010; Ndanga et al., 2013). Women are engaged in fertile-zation and feeding in Bangladesh, especially when men are absent (Shirajee et al., 2010). The findings show that the gender patterns in the post-production nodes of fisheries value chains differ significantly from those at the production nodes. Women consti-tutes between 77 percent and 97 per-cent of the per-manent and temporary workers in the fish processing industry. Womens engagement in commerce and retail is estimated to be minimal. In Bangladeshs shrimp processing industry, men are more promising to hold a permanent contract than women, who are more likely to work on a seasonal basis. Women possess only 1% of farmland in Bangladesh, and only 1% of ponds are owned by women. Womens engagement is further limited by a dearth of tech-nical knowledge, entrepreneurial and technical skills, and access to training (Ndanga et al., 2013).

Table 3: Gender division of labor in fish-culture value chains (Source: Kruijssen et al., 2018).

Consumption pattern of households between vari-ous protein sources

Fish is the furthermost often consumed animal-source meal across all social strata, as well as the most frequently consumed nutrient-rich food, acco-unting for the second biggest share of food exp-enditures behind rice. The bioavailability and ab-sorption of nutrients from plant-based foods is increased when fish and other animal-source foods are consumed (Neumann et al., 2001). Fig. 10 shows that 34% of households consumed fish on a regular basis over the course of 11-14 days, while 25% and 13% of households had access to milk and fruit, respectively. Furthermore, fish, leafy vegetables, and fruit were available to 37 percent, 20 percent, and 15 percent of households on a weekly basis. However, within the previous two weeks, 79 percent, 63 per-cent, 60 percent, and 50 percent of families had access to meat, milk, egg, and fruit in 0-2 days of frequency.

Fig.11: Quantity of fish consumption in the preceding three days (Source: Belton et al., 2014).

(Note: Fish originating mainly from aquaculture are marked with an asterisk to aid identification).

Quantity of consumption of the top ten most con-sumed fish species

Fig. 11 illustrates the volume of fish consumed by the top 10 most popular fish species, cracked down by income quartile. Quartile 1 refers to the poorest quartile, while Quartile 4 refers to the wealthiest. Out of a total of 53 varieties of fish, the top ten by amount accounted for 71% of total fish consumption. According to the studys findings, rohu (Labeo rohita), silver carp (Hypophthalmic molitrix), and pangasius (Pangasius hypophthalmus) are three of the top four most consumed species by volume Rohu is another popular freshwater fish species in Japan, but it is also one of the most expensive. The sub-stantial consumption disparity between Quartile 1 and Quartile 4 consumers demonstrates this. Despite the fact that silver carp and pangasius are among the most affordable species, the amounts consumed by consumers in lower - and upper-income categories differed significantly. In terms of quantity consu-med, three other farmed fish species, mrigal (Cirrhi-nus mrigala), tilapia, and small Indian major carps, exhibit roughly similar profiles across income quar-tiles.

Impacts of the blue revolution of small-scale fresh-water fisheries in Mymensingh

Fisheries development appears to have a favorable impact on food availability, livelihood prospects, revenue creation, and socioeconomic situations of linked groups in Mymensingh (Fig. 12). Food pro-duction is the most significant development brought about by aquaculture in Mymensingh. Overall, the expansion of fisheries has a favorable impact on food security (Ahmed & Lorica, 2002; Allison, 2011). In Mymensingh, fish selling has already enhanced food supplies (Young et al., 2012). Kurien, (2004) claims that there is a link between aquaculture pro-duct trade and food security. Fisheries has boosted 

the livelihood security of farming households in Mymensingh. In Mymensingh, around 5, 20, 000 individuals (excluding farmers) are involved in fish hatcheries activities. Fish-cultures rapid expansion in Mymensingh is good for growth, employment, and poverty elimination. Womens participation in small-scale fishery resources in Mymensingh has the potential to be extremely beneficial to their em-ancipation. Fish-cultures rapid growth in Mymen-singh has resulted in societal shift among fish farming communities.

Fig. 12: Impacts of the blue revolution in Mymensingh on household and community level (Source: Ahmed & Toufique, 2014).

Exports trend of fish and fishery products in Bangladesh

International commerce has proved its importance in todays global fisheries sector as a driver of econo-mic growth and contributor to global food security after more than 50 years of fast expansion. Fish and fishery products are still among the most widely traded foods, and they are vital to the economics of many countries and regions around the world (FAO, 2020). Exporting fish, shrimp, and other fisheries products earns Bangladesh a significant amount of foreign currency (Islam & Haque, 2018). In 2018-19, the country made 4074.53 crore taka/USD 505.58 million by exporting about 7.31 million MT of fish and fisheries products, as shown in Fig. 13. (FRSS, 2020; EPB, 2021). This accounts for 1.23 percent of the countrys overall export revenue. However, the growing trend in exports did not continue from fiscal year 2000 – 2001 to fiscal year 2018 – 2019. Bet-ween 2000 – 01 and 2010 – 11, there was an upward trend in the export of fish and fish products. How-ever, the export quantity and revenues did not ex-hibit any significant trend in the years leading up to 2019.

Fig. 13: Export trend of fish products in Bangladesh during 2001-02 to 2018-19(Source: FRSS, 2020).

Exports of shrimp and prawn in Bangladesh

Exporting fish, shrimp, and other fisheries products earns Bangladesh a noteworthy amount of overseas currency (Islam & Haque, 2018). After textiles and footwear, shrimp is one of Bangladeshs most im-portant export goods (EPB, 2021). Though shrimp culture production has been steadily increasing, export volumes have been steadily declining in last years. Shrimp production, as a fisheries sub-sector, has a lot of potential to boost the nationwide econo-my. Fig. 14 depicts the volume and value of shrimp traded internationally. Shrimp accounted for 75.8% of overall fishery export earnings and 45.6 percent of total fish export volume (DoF, 2019). The shrimp sector contributes US$ 358 Million in exports in 2019 (EPB, 2021).

Fig. 14: Frozen shrimp export quantity and value from 2001-02 to 2018-19 (Source: FRSS, 2020; Hosain et al., 2021).

Frozen shrimp export statistic 2017-2018 has stated that, export price of Bagda (P. monodon) was 77. 13% ($321.03 million) of total shrimp statistic; while export price of Galda (M. rogenbergii) was 16.08% ($66.92 million) and others species export price was 6.79% ($28.27 million). According to the Bangla-desh Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Bangla-desh earned about 348 million US$ by exporting 30,000 MT of shrimp in the FY 2019-20, which was about 365.44 million in the FY 2018-19.

Export of shrimps and prawns from Bangladesh

Bangladesh exports more than 80% of its frozen shrimps to EU. Main importers from the EU include the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Other major buyers are the United States, Japan and China. The shrimp sector has traditionally been a key export driver. In 2019, roughly 60% of shrimp farming was designated for exports, while 40% were thought to be consumed domestically. The size of sector has been shrinking gradually over the years both in terms of total production volumes & exports. International market prices of Bangladeshi Monodon have been declining during past years, worsening the export positioning of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has witnes-sed a decline in the price of shrimp in the export market in the recent years. As the higher priced Rosenbergii takes a larger share in the export basket, it was expected that the export price in 2019 skews upwards (Bangladesh Bank, 2021).

Fig. 15 shows that, in 2019-20, the total export price of shrimps and prawns were 2679.9 crore taka, while export value of fish other than shrimps and prawns were 762.9 crore taka. Export value from EU was 1609.6 crore taka. However, exports have been dec-lining slightly from 2017-18 by 15.77%. Bangladesh is becoming a more popular destination for Chinese customers looking for Monodon. However, a key issue in exporting to China is that the time between harvest and freezing is too long, resulting in poor quality. By reducing the supply chain to Chinese clients, China might become the next lucrative export destination for Bangladeshi Monodon.

Export of live fish, chilled fish and frozen fish over last five years

The export of live fish has surpassed the export of live crabs since 2018. Eels make up the majority of live fish exports, accounting for 96.5 percent and 99.3 percent of total live fish exports in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Eel, a relatively new export item, is gaining appeal among the people of Narail, Satkhira, Khulna, Chattogram, Mymensingh, Dinaj-pur, Sylhet, and Comilla (Jahan et al., 2019). More than 50,000 fishermen, traders, brokers, transporters, and exporters depended on the mud crab fishery in the past, but the number has now risen to 300,000 households in the coastal regions of Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Chittagong, Coxs Bazaar, and Noakhali (Islam, 2015). Frozen fish and frozen crabs exports from Bangladesh together US$ 55.48 million in 2020. Unlike the frozen fish segment, frozen crab exports had seen a one-third drop in value in 2020, primarily due to demand impacts due to Covid-19 lockdown and restrictions in key markets such as China. It is estimated that over 95% of all finfish exports are white fish (with bones) of the local varieties destined for use by Bangladeshi diaspora abroad. 

Fig. 16 shows that frozen finfish has had the highest export earnings of 38.09 percent in 2018-19, with the largest export value over the last five years. With 19.85 percent of the market, live crabs had the high-est export value in 2015-16. While the biggest export value was earned in 2018-19 in the categories of live fish, chilled fish, and frozen crabs, with 36.4 percent, 32.52 percent, and 33.09 percent, respect-ively.

Export hubs of live fish, chilled fish and frozen fish from Bangladesh

The fish products are exported live/chilled, not fro-zen, in the case of live and chilled fish. They are exported to nearby regions. Some noteworthy pure-play live fish exporters are Anjum International and Surma Seafood. They mostly export eels and crabs. Bangladesh Live and Chilled Food Exporters Asso-ciation (BLCFEA) has 216 members who export live and chilled fish and crabs.

Fig. 16: Export value of live fish, chilled fish and frozen fish (Source: EPB, 2021).

Around 60 enterprises are active in the pro-cessing/packaging and export of live and chilled fish among them. Some notable pure-play chilled finfish exporters include Ocean Trade International and MM Enterprise. Crabs are exported live to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, EU and USA while Eel of Bangladesh are exported to many countries of Europe, Asia and Middle East (Islam, 2015; Jahan et al., 2019).

Fig. 17: Country wise total exports (%) of live fish, chilled fish and frozen fish in 2019 (Source: EPB, 2021).

Fig. 17 shows that China receives the greatest per-centage of live fish exports, with 92.8 percent. With 71.4 percent of Bangladeshi chilled fish imports, India leads the way, followed by Qatar and Kuwait with 12.2 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. The United Kingdom (24.1 percent), China (23.7 per-cent), Saudi Arabia (21.8 percent), and the United States (10.2 percent) are the top importers of frozen fish, respectively.

Export potential of pangasius and tilapia from Bangladesh

Border prices at the wholesale and producer levels were US$ 1199 and US$ 661 per MT, respect-ively, based on import parity for pangasius and tilapia fish. Export parity, on the contrary, was expected to be US$ 994 and US$ 511 per MT, respectively. Table 4 also shows the relative benefit of pangasius and tilapia in Bangladesh, based on domestic resource cost (DRC) deter-mined from tradable and non-tradable input prices. Import and export parities were predicted to have DRCs of 0.46 and 0.61, respective-ly, which were both less than one. Furthermore, the export parity DRC value was higher than the import parity DRC value. This meant that exporting pan-gasius and tilapia to foreign countries had a com-parative advantage over importing them into Bang-ladesh. Pangasius and tilapia, according to Banrie (2013), have export potential in Bangladesh.

Table 4: Import/ export parity and Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) of pangasius and tilapia in Bangladesh (Source: Dhar et al., 2021).

The evidence presented to this study clearly reveals that fisheries, as Bangladeshs fastest expanding food producing sector, has the potential to alleviate pro-tein deficiency and malnutrition and generate jobs and foreign exchange revenues. With a production output of 24.89 lakh MT, inland fisheries provide 56.76 percent. Pond farming accounts for 45.04 per-cent of overall production in the culture sector, with semi-intensive farms accounting for 44.39 percent. Carp (both native and alien), mekong pangas, and tilapia made up about 93 percent of freshwater fish farming in ponds. Furthermore, inland culture farms accounted for 51.34 percent of total shrimp output. Farmers engaged in fisheries value chain related acti-vities had a 29 percent proportionate gain in revenue, while 72 percent of shrimp farmers were happier with shrimp culture than rice production, according to the findings. Furthermore, fish producing house-holds were better off in terms of food security than non-fisheries households. The top three fish species consumed are rohu, silver carp, & pangasius, which are primarily consumed by upper-income groups and silver carp and pangasius by lower-income groups. Women were primarily involved in permanent (77%) and temporary (97%) fish processing activity in the fisheries value chain. In 2018-19, shrimp accounted for 75.8% of fishery export revenues, with Monodon accounting for 77.13 percent of earnings. In reality, the UK, China and India receive 80 percent of frozen shrimp, 92.8 percent of live fish, and 71.4 percent of chilled fish, respectively. China, along with the EU, could be a potential destination for Monodon ex-ports. In terms of export, pangasius and tilapia both showed comparative advantage. However, these numerous findings show that the fisheries and fish farming industries are intimately intertwined and contribute directly or indirectly to the accompli-shment of multiple SDGs. Bangladeshs challenge is to surge the efficiency of its fisheries production while retaining the organic structure of the entire fishery sector and fishermen, traders, processors, and the general public must be aware of these challenges in order to participate in the expansion of man-agement plans and reap the benefits of the process.

We would like to express our deepest apprecia-tiveness to fish producers, Ministry of fisheries and other organizations for providing the information for this article. The paper highly acknowledges the con-tributions made by the authors during the develop-ment of the manuscript. 

All authors declare no conflict of interest.