In many aquatic habitats, fish, shellfish, algae, and other species are bred, raised, and harvested through aquaculture. The regulated production of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae, and other valuable organisms like aquatic plants is known as aquaculture (least frequently written as aquiculture]) (e.g. lotus). Contrasted with commercial fishing, which includes capturing wild fish, aquaculture involves raising populations of freshwater, brackish water, and saltwater species in controlled or semi-natural environments. Aquaculture in seawater habitats and lagoons is known as mariculture, as opposed to freshwater aquaculture, which is more frequently referred to as marine farming. Pisciculture is a kind of aquaculture that involves raising fish for food purposes.
The drainage system of Bangladesh
The rivers, which have shaped both the physiography and the manner of life of the people of Bangladesh, are the most notable element of the country’s landscape. Yet, Bangladesh’s rivers are frequently subject to abrupt changes in course, which can have an impact on the hydrology of a wide area. As a result, no description of Bangladesh’s topography can be said to be accurate for a very long. When the Tista River experienced unusually significant flooding in 1787, its waters abruptly shifted eastward, where they strengthened the Brahmaputra. This was one remarkable example of such a transformation. The bloated Brahmaputra then started to sever a small stream, which by the early 1800s had developed into the river’s main lower course and was now known as the Jamuna. A much smaller river (the Old Brahmaputra) now flows through the Brahmaputra’s former course.
Aquaculture History in Bangladesh
Shrimp culture in Bangladesh began to develop after 1971, although slowly. When large-scale shrimp aquaculture in higher-income East Asian nations like Thailand, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, and Taiwan started to suffer from environmental and social harm in the 1980s, the export-focused shrimp business took off. The idea of large-scale shrimp cultivation in coastal locations was born out of the increased fishing pressure on the ocean’s natural shrimp stocks and the need to gather shrimp as much as possible. Regarding economically significant species of shrimp, the southwest coastal low-lying area and the mangrove area in the southeast region, including Chakaria Sundarbans, appeared to be a gold mine. The cultivation of shrimp quickly spread throughout the coastal regions, including Shatkhira, Khulna, Bhagerhat, and Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh has grown to be one of the world’s top exporters of shrimp (P. monodon and M. rosenbergii).
In Bangladesh, the ancient shrimp (P. monodon) culture dates back many generations and involves replenishing ponds with wild seeds. In the Sundarban (mangrove) region, traditional shrimp farming is thought to have begun in 1829. The primary method of shrimp growing at the time was known as the “Bheri” culture. Shrimp are trapped and raised by dikes in tidal and low-lying areas in the “Bheri” culture.
Shrimp producers are increasingly gathering and stocking PL as well as snaring PL from tidal waters by blocking the dikes. Locally, this cultural system is known as gher chash. In the Southeast, the farming of shrimp (P. monodon) alternates with the production of salt and some rice, but in the most salinized regions, only shrimp are grown. Commercial polyculture of marines and brackish water species, such as mullet (Liza spp.) and mud crab (Scylla serrata), has been practiced on a small scale in recent years.
On the other hand, a few pioneers created the first freshwater shrimp (M. rosenbergii) farming in low-lying farmland and paddy fields between the late 1970s and the mid-1980s. In the initial location in the Bagerhat region, where freshwater shrimp (M. rosenbergii) have been raised alongside carp, rice, and other crops, the farming approach started to be widely adopted in the late 1980s. The production of freshwater shrimp has dramatically increased, and since 1990, acceptance has quickened. Khulna, Satkhira, and Jessore are just a few of the southern regions where this practice has grown.
Aquaculture Development in Bangladesh
The creation of a blue economy is strongly ingrained in Bangladesh’s development aspirations. Bangladesh is now the fifth-largest fish producer in the world because of improvements in freshwater aquaculture. Yet, the growth of marine aquaculture, also known as mariculture, is well suited to Bangladesh’s marine resource base, which is now much larger as a result of the recent resolution of disputes regarding maritime boundaries with neighboring nations.
The hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha), seabass (Lates calcarifer), and grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) are the most promising fish species. The black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), Indian white shrimp (Penaeus indicus), and mud crab are the most promising shrimp species (Scylla serata). Additionally, several marine organisms that aren’t typically found there, such as seaweed, microalgae, shellfish (like mussels and oysters), and sea cucumbers, have a lot of potential.
Yet, for mariculture to advance and help Bangladesh’s expanding blue economy, there are still significant obstacles that must be overcome. Most importantly, ministries, departments, and research institutes must work together with interested private entrepreneurs to create and implement plans that will allow mariculture to improve food security and economic growth through export prospects.
Culture practices in Bangladesh
Major and exotic carps, striped catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus), tilapia, and Java barbe are the main species that are produced in enclosed waters through sustainable aquaculture (Barbonymus gonionotus). This technique is done in the coastal areas of the nation, primarily in Chattogram and Barishal, where the natural recruitment of fish occurs with little to no human intervention. Also, very few artificial resources are utilized because the ponds are filled by the torrential rains that fall upon the tropical desert region as a result of the water cycle’s natural management. The natural predators in the area are allowed to flourish along with the stocked fish, preventing any single disruption in the trophic levels of the marine food chain, and no fertilizers are distributed except organic ones, which in itself is a rare practice.
Shrimp, Crab is being cultured vastly in Bangladesh. The international market requires those species and Bangladesh’s Gdp is increasing. Shrimp is one of the major export products.
Fish farming grows the country’s export business
The consumption of animal proteins, employment opportunities, foreign revenues, preservation of aquatic biodiversity, and improvement of Bangladesh’s socioeconomic development are all significantly influenced by the fishing industry. It makes up 26.37% of the agricultural GDP and 3.52% of the overall GDP. According to the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporter Association, shrimp exports from Bangladesh reached $507.3 million for the fiscal year that ended in June, a 1.5% decrease from the prior fiscal year. 95 percent of the $534 million in frozen food exports from the nation were produced from shrimp. Data from the Export Promotion Bureau show that from July to November of the current fiscal year 2022–23, Bangladesh’s exports of frozen and live fish decreased by 27.39% to $208,27 million from $286,85 million during the same time in the previous fiscal year.
Aquaculture, or fish farming, is necessary to help the globe satisfy the demand for seafood, which is on the rise, and to give people in poorer nations access to wholesome protein while easing the burden on wild fish. The world’s fastest-growing industry for producing food is aquaculture.
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Writer
Atika Afia Broty
Intern, Content Writing Department,
YSSE