National Report of Bangladesh on Sustainable Management of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME)

This National report of Bangladesh was prepared as a part of Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) programme of FAO on the “Sustainable Management of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME).” The aims of this national report was to identify the extent of pollution intensity and deterioration of the environment of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) with special reference to the fishery resources of Bangladesh, to justify the needed action plan on priority basis for sustainable development of the marine and coastal resources of the country; and as a whole for the BOBLME Block. This report also analyzed the present status of Bangladesh in respect of rigorous management of BOB. i. e. the potential resources and its environment. The major objective of the regional Programme was to identify the priorities of issues for future interventions by the programme under FAO. Additionally, the assessment would greatly assist the donor agencies and national government in shaping the management strategy of the BOBLME region as a whole. This report is one of the eight of BOBLME block National Report, which make up the complete assessment of the region. It is a compilation of the available data accumulated over a period of 10 years with major advances occurring in this regard. Chapter 2 dealt exclusively with the marine fisheries sector, its present status, threatening issues, and rigorous management of these resources. Chapter 3 deals with the deteriorating state of the water body of BOB to acquire realistic knowledge about environmental pollution that lead to implementation of more comprehensive approaches for restoring and protecting the environment for biodiversity conservation. For preparing this report, many scientists, representatives of govt., industry, and non-government organization and other interested parties participated in providing data, and in the technical and priority setting meeting including National Task Force (NTF) meeting and seminar on BOBLME in Bangladesh; National Workshop on BOBLME country status paper; reviews and comments from National Review Group (NRG) experts on BOBLME draft national report etc. were taken into due consideration. Priority issues were identified and their rankings as mentioned in the report were agreed in the National Workshop and in addition recommendations regarding regional co-operation, given by the participants of the Bay of Bengal Environmental Management Group were also assimilated into the recommendation of the national report.