The four million ha of openwaters in Bangladesh are among the world’s richest and most complex fisheries. The rivers, beels (lakes), baors (oxbow lakes), haors (large deeply flooded depressions), and floodplains support some 260 fish species (Rahman, 1989) and perhaps some 10 million people earn an income from fish. Several studies, including FAP 16 (1995) and the study reported here, indicate that about 80% of rural households traditionally catch fish or food to sell. Fish contribute about 60% of animal protein consumed (Islam, in press). Studies have shown that the many ‘miscellaneous’ small fish caught from the floodplains and lakes by poor people, which have been neglected in official statistics and policies, provide relatively more essential nutrients than do the large fish favored by fish culture programs (FAP 16 1995).