Photo Credit: Mahabubur Rahman Credit: Photo ECOFISH-Bangladesh Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh Project Background Theater of Operation (ToO) Hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) is the national sh of Bangladesh. It is the most popular sh within the countries of the Bay of Bengal region due to its taste, avor and look. Moreover, it contains essential micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids. During 2002-03, the hilsa production went down to below 0.2 million tons that led the Gov. to formulate the Hilsa Fishery Management Action Plan (HFMAP). Since the implementation of HFMAP, hilsa production showed an increasing trend @5%/year till 2015. To improve its annual incremental production further, Department of Fisheries and WorldFish jointly started implementation of “Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh (ECOFISH-Bangladesh)”, a USAID funded ve-year initiative (2014-2019). The overall objective of the project is- “Improved resilience of the Meghna River ecosystem and communities reliant on coastal sheries”. Recently, over a million of Rohingya refugee inux from Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar region, especially in Teknaf and Ukhiya areas, the Zone of Resilience (ZOR), that has created enormous impacts on all natural resources including sheries biodiversity. This has led to the suerings of a vast number of the Naf River and coastal host shing communities. 152 Villages 36 Upazila 12 Districts USAID’s ECOFISH has started a broad-based assessment of the ecology and biodiversity of Project Name coastal and marine waters to enhance conservation as well as livelihood improvement of Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh the aected host shing communities through better utilization of aquatic resources in the (ECOFISH-Bangladesh) ZOR, Cox’s Bazar. Donor Focus Areas USAID • Science-based co-management in hilsa sanctuaries & ZOR, Cox’s Bazar CGIAR Research Program • Improved resilience of the Meghna & the Naf River ecosystems FISH-CRP • Improved resilience of the coastal shing households Project Duration • Improved women savings, access to resources and technologies June 2014-December 2019 Approach Zones of Intervention The project supports the Department of Fisheries (DOF) and local communities to establish Zone 1: Zone of Resilience (ZOR), Cox’s a collaborative science-based “co-management” that focuses on the reduction of Bazar, focusing on Ukhiya & Teknaf overshing, protection of juveniles, protection of brood in the peak spawning season Zone 2: Meghna River Ecosystem (MRE) in through involving all stakeholders. The community supports have been ensured through Barisal, Bhola, Barguna, Jhalokathi, Pirojpur, organizing the community groups and promoting community empowerment focusing on Patuakhali, Laxmipur, Noakhali, Chandpur women and their livelihood diversication for improved resilience to endure compliance & Shariatpur districts during shing ban periods. Special attentions would be directed to the aected host Partners shing communities in the Zone of Resilience (ZOR) along the Naf River and Cox’s BFRI, BAU, CU, CRC/URI USA, RU, PSTU, Bazar-Teknaf coastline. NSTU, CVASU, VFAP, CODEC, CNRS, COAST Trust, Shushilan, IUCN, WCS, iiED & UPM Photo Credit: Shohorab Hossain Shohorab Credit: Photo Key Outputs/Activities WorldFish, in partnership with DoF, IUCN & WCS, facilitated the Gov. Zone of Resilience (ZOR), Cox’s Bazar to declare the Nijhum Dwip Marine Reserve (3,188 sq.km) • Livelihood support as AIGAs for host communities • Improving women’s access to nance • Supporting sea-weed farming and marketing • Supporting hygienic dry sh production & marketing • Biodiversity assessment and conservation • Fish stock assessment and catch monitoring • Co-management/EAFM institutions strengthening • Fish landing centers improvement & landing monitoring Meghna River Ecosystem (MRE) • Max. Sustainable Yields of hilsa 0.526 million tons estimated • 22-day peak spawning season of hilsa in October established • Allowable mesh sizes 6.5 cm to catch hilsa Fishers’ household income increased (Baseline 2016, Endline 2018) • Fish biodiversity of the Meghna River assessed, eg. catsh • 3 Hilsa sub-populations identied (marine, Meghna & Padma) Total • 100 Citizen Scientists introduced for sh catch monitoring 128,818 BDT • 575 HCGs formed involving 20,000 members (30% women) 52% 17,140 95,688 BDT • 63 HGGs formed in sh landing centers (Ghat) BDT 84,645 17% • 133 Fisheries Management Committee formed 52% BDT • 400 Trained Community Fish Guards engaged 15,990 14,690 • 63 Co-management committees formed at dierent levels 63,086 BDT BDT BDT • 148 Community Savings Groups formed (US$ 125k saved) 133% Fishing income • AIGA supports @ BDT. 10-30k/hh for 20,000 hhs provided Non-farm income 6,869 • Created Hilsa Conservation Fund with US$ 0.5 as seed money BDT • ToT on EAFM provided for DOF, BFRI, NGOs & WorldFish ocials On-farm income Outcomes Hilsa catch increased Average size of hilsa improved Abundance & size of catsh improved Total: Total: Total: 880 g 279,189 387,211 517,000 Tons Tons Tons 510 g 535 g 2006/07 2014/15 2017/18 2014 2015 2016 Contact: Dr. Md. Abdul Wahab, Team Leader, ECOFISH-Bangladesh Project, WorldFish, Bangladesh Oce; House 2/B, Road 4, Block B, Banani-1213, Dhaka. Phone: +88-02-8813250. E-mail: [email protected].