Bangladesh is now self-sufficient in the production of fish

[Nike]

Is Bay Of Bengal had been overfished? Or there is still some room to increasing invesment in Fishing vessels industry?

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Is Bay Of Bengal had been overfished? Or there is still some room to increasing invesment in Fishing vessels industry?

I can not tell about the coastal areas of India, but within Bangladeshi portion it is far from being overfished.Vast majority of our traular can not go beyond 50 NM from the coast and have no modern equipment. Our catch from BoB is just about 200k tons.We have capacity to increase this catch several times in sustainable ways with proper management of marine resources.Northern side of BoB is very rich in marine fishes due to the fact that, a lot of nutrients are carried out by Ganges-Brahmaputra river system.

 

[Bilal9]

Our production capacities of fish can be even much higher if more efficient methods are employed. You have to know that our renewable freshwater resources itself are 1227 Km compared to much bigger states like India/China who have barely double ours. We have been blessed with numerous rivers/wetlands in our country. Also, a lot of us need to consume and produce sea water fish (which people from Chittagong region like me already do).

I believe our inland riverine fishing fleet needs local investment and modernization by the formal sector instead of informal sector at present. Part of this formal sector investment must include refrigeration methods to preserve fish.

In the Mississipi river near Kentucky in the US - there is now an invasive species problem with Asian carp. There are local riverine fishing fleets that are hunting Asian carp exclusively per state permits for this.

M/V Riverine Enterprise is an old 350′ long Fish factory vessel in Kentucky equipped with massive refrigerated fish holds.

More modern Fish factory vessels can easily be made locally at Western marine. These vessels can sit in the middle of the Padma river and can be fed by fresh catch from smaller vessels. Fish is processed and frozen on the spot for export or local consumption. No need for preservatives. Spoilage can be controlled that ranges about 50% right now.

The 'Alaska Ocean' is the largest catcher/processor ship in the U.S. fleet with a capacity to catch and process 300 tons of Alaskan Pollock each day. If you have ever eaten a McDonald’s Filet-o-fish (in the Sandwich or burger) there is a good chance that it came from the Alaska Ocean. At 376 feet, the Alaska Ocean is the largest catcher/processor in the U.S. fleet. Our river fish processors don't need to be this big but they need to be close to all the fishing trawlers so they can supply the factory with their catch.

Length: 376 feet
Horse Power: 6600
Tonnage: 4555
Hold Capacity: 2150 Metric Tons
Fishmeal Capacity: 500 Metric Tons
Crew capacity: 143
Products: Fillet, surimi, mince, roe, milt, fishmeal & fish Oil
Species: Alaska Pollock, Pacific Cod, Pacific Whiting

 

[mb444]

Hilsa can be farmed but the results are not great. It is both a salt water and fresh water fish in that they spawn in fresh water but live out most of their lifecycle in the sea.

When it is farmed in fresh water they never reach maturity. Efforts are being made to replicate spawning in fresh water and then salinating the water. However this has resulted in mixed results.

There are farms being set up where newly spawned Hilsa is grown directly near the bay. Again mixed results. It is difficult to replicate the natural conditions. The issue is a tasty Hilsa once fully grown goes through a process of desalination once it comes to spawn back to where it was born. Technically it has not yet been possible to take them through the full life cycle and replicate the salt content in water mirroring their natural migration pattern.

Hilsa lifecycle is similar to salmon and it took a long time to crack salmon farming but one day Hilsa will also be properly farmed.