According to local sources, Department of Fisheries (DoF) will conduct the survey to assess the stock of marine fisheries and other fishing resources in the Bay as a part of an ongoing development project titled Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Capacity Building Project’. The project is jointly financed by Islamic Development Bank, Malaysia and Government of Malaysia. Bangladesh Government has already procured the vessel from Malaysia for conducting the survey. RV Meen Sandhani, the modern survey and research vessel arrived at Chittagong on June 9. The multipurpose research vessel is equipped with all necessary high-tech equipment for carrying out survey activities in the sea. The research vessel was built at a cost of Tk65 crore in Malaysia with a length of 37.8 metre, draft of 3.2 metre and breadth of 9.2 metre. Nasiruddin Md Humayun, director of Marine Fisheries Office told the Dhaka Tribune that the survey would likely to begin from November. Favourable and calm weather in the sea is required for carrying out survey activities and for that reason the survey will begin tentatively from November. Humayun said surveys on marine resources could be conducted in the Bay for the next 20-25 years with the help of the vessel. There had been no full-fledged assessment on pelagic fish in the Bay. The survey will help us of the stock of pelagic fish in the Bay, said the marine official. The first marine resources survey was carried out in 1973 with Russian trawlers. Some surveys were conducted between 1978 and 1986. At present the marine fisheries sector of Bangladesh contributes to 17.74% of the country’s total production of 3.26 million tonnes, in spite of a reasonable marine and brackish water area under the Exclusive Economic Zone. At present we do not have any concrete data on the country’s marine resources. The survey will help us to make a complete list of all commercially valued and exploitable marine fishes in the Bay, said Prof Saidur Rahman Chowdhury, Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries of Chittagong University. The survey will help about distribution of marine fishes, quantity and species of marine fishes and their breeding grounds. The survey will also help us to follow the movement of the straddling or trans-boundary fishes in the Bay, said Prof Saidur. Md Iqbal Haroon, principal scientific officer, Marine Fisheries Survey and Management Unit told the Dhaka Tribune: The Bay of Bengal is one of the world’s largest marine ecosystems. However, the indiscriminate fishing in the Bay by the fishermen is putting many fish species and aquatic animals in peril. The project will help us to assess the total mass of organism in a given area or volume. The survey will ultimately help to determine Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). The MSY is theoretically the maximum level at which a natural resource can be routinely exploited without long-term depletion, said the principal scientific officer. According to a survey conducted during 1980s, there are a total of 475 fish species including 36 species of shrimp fish in the Bay of Bengal. The survey also revealed that the there was a stock of 1,88,000 tonnes of demersal fish in the Bay of Bengal. The same survey put the stock of pelagic fish in the Bay between 60,000- 120,000 tonnes
2016 Dhaka Tribune