Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Fisheries Sector and Actions Taken to Cope with the Situation: A Case Study from a Top Fish-Producing Country

Shamsuddin, Md, Hossain, Mohammad Belal, Rahman, Moshiur, Tazim, Md. Farhan, Ali, Md. Romjan, Kawla, Mst Salamun, Begum, Tajmahal, Albeshr, Mohammed Fahad, and Arai, Takaomi (2023) Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Fisheries Sector and Actions Taken to Cope with the Situation: A Case Study from a Top Fish-Producing Country. Sustainability, 15 (4). 3605.

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DOI: 10.3390/su15043605

View at Publisher Website: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043605

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Abstract

Bangladesh, one of the top fish producers in the world, has rapidly been expanding its annual fish production. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and related preventative measures have had a substantial impact on the nation’s fishing sector. In this study, a survey was performed in the Brahmanbaria subdistrict of Bangladesh to assess the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent efforts made by the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Bangladesh, to mitigate the negative impact on the culture and capture fisheries. The socioeconomic profile of fishery stakeholders for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 was used to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic situation on fish farming, fish hatcheries, fish nurseries, the fish feed industry, and the dry fish industry. Data analysis showed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the income of fishery stakeholders and their livelihoods. The income of fish farmers decreased by 47.49% in 2020 as compared to the base year of 2019 but increased by 129.34% in 2021, showing the effects of COVID-19 and mitigation efforts. Transport and movement restrictions adversely affected the culture fisheries while favouring capture fisheries with an increased annual catch. To counter or reduce most of those issues, the DoF, Bangladesh, took necessary steps, such as constructing a virtual control room and engaging the fishermen in some unique activities. Fishermen and other stakeholders benefitted because of farm visits, online training, improved interdepartmental coordination, monitoring of fish-selling marketing channels, activation of the FIAC (Farmer’s Information and Advice Centre), and women’s engagement through the provision of subsidies and loans. The DoF constructed fish sanctuaries and implemented law enforcement in 2020 and 2021 to safeguard the habitat for small indigenous species (SIS). These actions might have improved the stakeholders’ income and the post-pandemic scenario by increasing fish productivity. However, further study is recommended on the effective mitigation measures for drawing a clear conclusion.


Item ID:	78412
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2071-1050
Keywords:	biodiversity, COVID-19, fish farmer, fish production, fishermen, impacts
Copyright Information:	© 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Date Deposited:	17 Oct 2023 02:04
FoR Codes:	30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3005 Fisheries sciences > 300599 Fisheries sciences not elsewhere classified @ 50% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410401 Conservation and biodiversity @ 50%
SEO Codes:	10 ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 1002 Fisheries - aquaculture > 100299 Fisheries - aquaculture not elsewhere classified @ 25% 10 ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 1003 Fisheries - wild caught > 100399 Fisheries - wild caught not elsewhere classified @ 25% 10 ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 1001 Environmentally sustainable animal production > 100199 Environmentally sustainable animal production not elsewhere classified @ 50%
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