تجزیه و تحلیل بهره برداری و شیوه های مدیریت شیلات در اکوسیستم ساندارابنز بنگلادش

Sundarbans mangrove of Bangladesh—a World Heritage Site has been providing a wide array of fisheries activities for a large number of coastal people. Over-fishing, particularly collecting Penaeus monodon postlarvae from mangrove and near-shore waters, due to increasing demand from shrimp farming, and over exploitation of plant and wildlife species are exerting increasing amount of stresses on the viability of this delicate ecosystem. A number of regulations have been enacted for the conservation of the resources and ecosystem, but yet to rigorously enforced. The initiative to institute a comprehensive fisheries management system by the recent Asian Development Bank supported “Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project”, therefore, marks the beginning of a new era for sustainability of aquatic resources in the Sundarbans.

The Sundarbans, the largest single block of mangrove ecosystem in the world, is located in the estuary of the river Ganges, spanning an area of about 1 million hectares in Bangladesh and India. The Sundarbans in Bangladesh cover an area of 6017 km2 along its southwestern part sharing 4143 km2 of land and 1874 km2 of water body. The ecological succession of West Bengal area of the Sundarbans in India is quite different from that of the Bangladesh's Sundarbans. Unlike most mangrove forest of the world, the tree vegetation of Sundarbans is not dominated by the members of the family Rhizophoraceae [1]. The existence of Sundarbans, forming an ideal mangrove ecosystem, supports a large groups of fish, shrimp, edible crab and also supplies food and cash to the coastal communities. One-third of the country's population is dependent on Sundarbans [2]. With over 3.5 million people from the surrounding areas depend directly or indirectly on the Sundarbans for their livelihood, the forest has been reducing alarmingly day by day. The Sundarbans mangrove forest was declared as “Reserve Forest” in 1875–76 under the first “Forest Act” of the British India. As a reserve forest, control of fishing within Sundarbans is exercised by the Forest Department (FD) and the output from the fishery being regarded as “minor forest products” [3]. As with other forest products, FD exercises their control by issuing of boat/transportation and fishing permits. Activities of the FD on fisheries are exclusively focused on revenue collection. The fisheries resources are exploited on the basis of maximum sustainable yield (MSY), which is not ideal for sustainable management for the fisheries resources of Sundarbans [4]. The UNESCO has declared the Sundarbans as a World Heritage Site in 1999. No comprehensive fisheries management system has ever been existed in the Sundarbans, although currently Asian Development Bank is supporting a project “Biodiversity conservation in the Sundarbans” and some management options are in the process of implementation [5]. The present report aimed at evaluating the fisheries structure and management practices in Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF) and, to some extent, the coastal shrimp farming in Bangladesh.

There is a National Policy to protect the area and provide for sustainable use of the Sundarbans resources. Also a land use zoning framework for the World Heritage Site is in place for protected areas, buffer zone, commercial zone for sustainable harvesting and subsistence living area. The FD is bound by mandate to conserve all aquatic resources inside the Sundarbans. To achieve the policy objectives, the following issues need to be addressed: • Wood and non-wood (i.e. fisheries resources) extraction on sustainable basis. • Management of shrimp and other aquaculture by means of zonation, improved production practices and enforcement to protect wild stock. • Participation and knowledge available to all stakeholders. The management practice within the SRF should consider the concern of the local people, as so far, the traditional and cultural wisdom of the local people who have sustained the ecosystem for generations. The traditional management regime has been replaced by state monopoly and control, which has led to total commercialization of resource extraction. In the beginning of the 1980s the commercial shrimp industry entered into Bangladesh coast. Shrimp farms were established in the adjacent areas of the Sundarbans, and at present is the major activity of the buffer zone (0–20 km around the SRF). The proposed management system under “Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project” has no policy guidelines regarding the shrimp industry and also has no regulation on shrimp fry collection in the buffer zone. There are concerns over the loss of aquatic biodiversity in Sundarbans as well as in coastal water and encompasses adverse effects of the resources. The ban on fishing in the sanctuaries closes off 23% of the Sundarbans area. This leaves the rest of the SRF as fishing grounds (except the small khals where fishing will be banned every other year). For sustainable exploitation, fish stock assessment in the Sundarbans water could be made from the catch data of commercial fisheries rather than project-based survey data. Regulation of size at first capture and mesh size should enforced by regular surveillance. The size of the fishery could also be controlled by limiting the number of weekly gear licenses issued by the FD. The ban on wild shrimp fry collection has not yet been effected because of the concern expressed and objection raised from different corners including donors. Conflict between conservation and fisher folk arises when local communities are excluded from reserve forests. When no alternative income sources are available, poaching and a general breakdown of any management scheme are encouraged. The fisheries policy situation in Bangladesh has some experience of development projects which focus on the process of development, the importance of stakeholder participation and the possibilities for adapting existing political and institutional structures. A good example is the CBFM (Community-Based Fisheries Management) project in inland waters of Bangladesh managed by the WorldFish Centre and Department of Fisheries. To facilitate fisheries development in Sundarbans, similar arrangement should be needed to demonstrate that GO–NGO (non-government organization) partnerships can be mutually beneficial. Implementation of the New Management System under SBCP is a new approach to the improved management of Sundarbans fishery. We cannot say at this stage with certainty that the new management system in its present form is the best. The proposed plan appended with the policy further provides institutional direction for multi-sectoral action. It is essential to identify the policies and legislative or regulatory issues that are responsible for destruction or act as hindrances to Sundarbans conservation or sustainable use. Unless the issues are identified, it would be difficult to propose practicable recommendations. Specific needs or weaknesses should be identified before proposing their strengthening. In the light of emerging policy directives, the prevailing sectoral policies need reorientation, and new policies on land and water use, and human settlements should be adopted to ensure institutional coordination. Legislation is needed to regulate all impacting activities and to establish protective standards, mitigation, monitoring and enforcement. Healthy mangrove systems in Bangladesh not only support the economic needs of up to 30% of the total population of the country, but also protect against cyclones and could serve to mitigate the effects of sea-level rise, certainly over the next 50 years.