The Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) is a multi-agency regional fisheries programme covering 7 countries around the Bay of Bengal. The programme plays a catalytic role in developing and promoting technologies and ideas to improve conditions for small-scale fisherfolk communities. It is sponsored by governments and UN agencies. The objective is to assess environmental degradation in coastal ecosystems and make recommendations for sustainable productivity and reduced fisheries impacts.

1. Bay of bengal project
MANJUSHREE A S
MFK1415.

2. Bay of Bengal project
 The Bay of Bengal, the largest bay in the world, forms
the north-eastern part of the Indian Ocean. Roughly
triangular in shape, it is bordered mostly
by India and Sri Lanka to the west, Bangladesh to the
north, and Burma (Myanmar) and the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands to the east.

3.  The Bay of Bengal occupies an area of
2,172,000 km².
 A number of large rivers – the Ganges and its
distributaries such as Padma and Hooghly,
the Brahmaputra and its distributaries such
as Jamuna and Meghna.
 The Bay of Bengal is a salt water sea and is a part of
the Indian Ocean
 BOBP is an inter-government organisation.
 It evolved from FAO of united nations.
 Started in the year 1994.

4. Goal and programmes
 Goal: to connect the member countries to
knowledge,experiance & resource to help theire folks
to build a better life.
 Programmes:
 Regional program on safety at sea for artisanal & small
scale fisherman
 Regional programmes for fish stock assessments in bay
of Bengal.
 Capacity building &information services for fisheries
develop and management BOB region.
 Taking the code of conduct for responsible fisheries to
the grass root level.

5. Geography
 Location: Northern Indian Ocean.
It is encompassed by the nations of:India, Bangladesh,
Myanmar, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.
 Length: 2,090 km
 Width: 1,610 km
 Surface Area: 3,660,130 km sq.
 Average Depth: 2,600 meters
 Max Depth: 4,694 meters

6. The city of Visakhapatnam in India,
is a major port of Bay of Bengal

7.  The Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) is a
multiagency regional fisheries programme
 which covers seven countries around the Bay of Bengal
— Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives,
Shri Lanka and Thailand.
 The Programme plays a catalytic and consultative role:
it develops, demonstrates and promotes new
technologies, methodologies and ideas to help
improve the conditions of small-scale fisher folk
communities in member countries.
 The BOBP is sponsored by the governments of
Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and also
by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).
 The main executing agency is the FAO (Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).

8. objectives
 The objective was to assess the problems of
environmental degradation in the coastal ecosystems
in the Bay of Bengal by reviewing the existing
information, analyzing available data and collating it
all as a fundamental information base.
 In the long-term, the project could result in
recommendations for coordinated activities in the
countries as well as the region to achieve sustainable
productivity from the coastal ecosystems and reduce
the negative effects on the fisheries resources.

9. The Project has five components
 1. Strategic Action Programme
 2. Coastal/Marine Natural Resources Management
and Sustainable Use:
1. Community-based integrated coastal management -
stock-taking/lesson learning of information and
experience for promotion of community-based,
fisheries and habitat management; co-management;
and alternative livelihoods among fisher communities
in the region

10. 2. Improved policy harmonization – obtaining a better
understanding of the policy processes and enhanced
capacity in the formulation of policy, regional
exchange of information on policy and legislation.
3. Collaborative regional fishery assessments and
management plans – developing collaborative
regional fishery assessments, regional and sub-
regional management plans, and harmonization of
data collection and standardization to promote
collaborative fisheries management approaches.

11. 4. Collaborative critical habitat management -
promoting multi-national approaches to manage and
address issues affecting transboundary coastal/marine
ecosystems within the broader BOB region.
 3. Improved Understanding and Predictability of
the BOB Environment:
Marine Protected Areas in the conservation of
regional fish Stocks – obtaining consensus on
approaches to the establishment and management of
marine protected areas and fish refugia for sustainable
fish management and biodiversity conservation
objectives

12.  4. Maintenance of Ecosystem Health and
Management of Pollution:
Coastal pollution loading and water quality criteria
Development of a regional collaborative approach to
identifying important coastal water pollution issues
and to develop remedial strategies
 5. Project Management, Monitoring and
Evaluation, and Knowledge Management:
Monitoring and evaluation system - establishing a cost-
effective monitoring and evaluation system in
conformity with existing FAO and World Bank policies
and procedures.