Bangladesh has always been heavily dependent on fish as a primary source of protein for its people. This has remained the case for years due to the low per capita income of the country and the inability of its citizens to accommodate higher value proteins into their diets. Moreover, the demand for fish has always been followed closely by supply, although there still remains a shortfall of 1 mn Tons to this day.

1. www.lightcastlebd.com/blog
Market Insight: Bangladesh Fisheries Sector
Bangladesh has always been heavily dependent on fish as a primary source of protein for its
people. This has remained the case for years due to the low per capita income of the country
and the inability of its citizens to accommodate higher value proteins into their diets.
Moreover, the demand for fish has always been followed closely by supply, although there still
remains a shortfall of 1 mn Tons to this day.
There is considerable scope for expansion of supply as Bangladesh is a riverine country, which
in the 1970s had 800 rivers running through its core with a total length of 24,140 km.
Bangladesh has round 57 trans-boundary rivers coming down to it of which 54 are from India
and 3 from Myanmar. If these natural water bodies are leveraged properly then Bangladesh has
a scope to become a net producer of fish.
In terms of GDP, the sector comprised of 23% of agricultural in 2012. However, its importance is
further magnified because it can be argued that the sustained GDP growth rate of 6% over the
years and a current base of USD 123 bn has been fed by the produce from the fisheries sector.
This is because protein is what leads to a productive workforce regardless of sector and a cheap
source of this nutrient is especially important for an LDC such as Bangladesh.
In addition, due to the rural bias of Bangladesh in terms of population, around 11% of the total
population is engaged in the supply side of the fisheries sector in one way or another. The
contribution of this sector has been growing steadily over the last ten years with average
growth rate estimated to be around 5.5% over that period in terms of production. Fish
production in Bangladesh stood at 3.26 mn tons in 2011-12 (FSYB, 2011-12), up from 2.56 mn
tons in the FY 2008.

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A 2010 study found that consumption pattern of fish in rural areas consisted mainly of low
value wild fish and carps while the basket in the urban areas consisted of a combination of
Pangas, Tilapia, Climbing perch (Koi) among others. The principal reason behind basic rural
consumption of fish is a failure of the market mechanism to clear supply and demand properly.
This may arise because cultivated fish is used for own consumption and selling to markets.
If there is over or underproduction, fish farmers may change their allocation between the
above mentioned categories, hence leading to insufficient intake of fish by them at times and
wastage in others. Market linkages should be beefed up in order to mitigate this problem by
allowing proper flow of information among participants throughout the value chain from the
fish farmer to the retailer.
Fish cultivation can be put into three broad categories as follows.
Aquaculture
It is the method where rural households and entrepreneurs culture fish for their own diet as
well as for selling. This can be further separated into three categories being homestead,
entrepreneurial and intensive pellet fed systems. Overall, 53% of the fishing method is
comprised of aquaculture.
Capture
Capture consists of 30% of the fish production in 2011-2012. Decrease in its ratio in the fishing
method over the years shows a shift towards a more organized way of cultivating fish through a
development in the supply chain of fishing industries.
Marine
This category of the fishing method comprises of 18% of the total production volume with a
production of 578,620 MT in 2011-12. Production in areas like Saint Martin and Sundarbans is
not possible as these are marked as ecologically sensitive that adversely affect fishing activity.
However, new opportunities are emerging after the sea boundary ruling in favor of Bangladesh
which has opened up 19,467 sq. km for Bangladesh to explore.

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The composition of fishing method has changed over time in Bangladesh. Namely, there has
been a stark switching of priority between the capture and culture categories with culture
taking the lead in recent years.
This transition points to a move to a more organized regime in fishing and profit seeking
motives by the farmers. In the period 1985-86 for instance, the capture category of fish supply
consisted of 56% of the total production whereas in 2011-12, it only consisted of 30% with the
culture category making up 53% of production. In addition, this points to opportunities for
market interventions which would enhance the production volume in the culture category of
fishing and increase its share from the current rate of around 55% of fishing production.
The chart illustrates the transition of Bangladeshi fishing concentration from the catching
category to the culture category.

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The fish they produce increasingly go forward in the value chain in the form of value added
products such as processed fish. These products are in turn sold in urban retailing outlets or
exported. There are around 160 processing plants in Bangladesh and most of them are
concentrated in the Southern parts of the country namely, Khulna, Satkhira, Barisal, Chittagong
and Cox’s Bazar. These plants have a combined capacity of producing 350,000 MT of processed
fish per year.
This capacity is going to be put under strain as the processed fish sector is going to experience
progressively faster demand with increased levels of urbanization (growth of 4%/year) and
changing employment and socio-economic profile of Bangladesh. With the rising popularity of
retail outlets such as Agora, Meena Bazar, Nandan, Swapno and the move to a more processed
style of eating in the urban areas, domestic demand for processed fish is projected to be robust
in the coming years.
With fish demand projected to reach over 4.5 MT by 2021, it is of the utmost importance that
market linkages be strengthened by considering the perspectives of all value chain participants.
Through this, it can be ensured that the supply shortfall of fish currently experienced in the
country can be turned around to a surplus and that the rural population which consists of more
than half of the total can have sufficient nutrients in their diet to ensure overall growth of
capital; human and physical.