Jasia Tahzeeda :
Fish is considered as first class protein which is superior to meat in many ways. Additionally it has the potential to contribute more in GDP growth of Bangladesh. Thus it is needed to focus on ensuring sustainable fisheries in Bangladesh particularly in combating the climate change.
Mohammed Mukteruzzaman, Associate Specialist of Center for Environment and Geographic Information Service has expertise in natural resources planning, conservation and management with focus on sustainable fisheries resources. During his interview he has addressed the challenges of ensuring sustainable fisheries in Bangladesh. Currently around 4.1 million metric ton of fishes are being produced.
About which 28 percent is from captured (inland) sources, 56% is cultured fish and 16% of the fish is from marine source. However the percentage of captured fish is reducing whereas the percentage of cultured fish is soaring rapidly. Moreover, there are many challenges associated with culturing fish as feed and fertilizers lead towards water pollution and algae bloom. On the other hand, the quality and the taste of cultured fish are quite low comparing to other two sources.
Thus there is a need for ensuring sustainable fish capture. One of the main challenge regarding ensuring sustainable fisheries is the huge gap in integration among different institutions. Such as projects of LGD might hamper in wild fish production by leading towards egg deposition as it has lack of collaboration with Ministry of fisheries and livestock as well as Bangladesh water Development board. Saline water intrusion and drought resulting from climate change, embankment lead towards lower fish production, fish migration and loss of species diversity. He also mentioned that although currently the production is higher than the consumption, for dealing with the future growing demand, it is important to address many issues immediately.
Thus he has suggested to focus on wetlands as they have high recruitment potential for fishes, update the new statistics for water bodies, river dredging and finally to reduce the wastage of fishes by installing adequate ice factory for fishermen. Additionally, he has also suggested that National Fisheries Policy, 1998 should be updated by incorporating the new challenges and new statistics.
It is clear from the policies of Bangladesh that government is ignoring the impact of meat consumption in climate change in our country and focusing on providing the nutrition while encouraging meat consumption. However to ensure environmental sustainability while addressing the issue of water scarcity and meeting the growing demand of food, it is important to focus on reducing water and carbon footprint.
It is possible that when the consumption of meat will increase, it will destruct the environment and the reverse strategy would be taken to control the livestock production and reduce the meat consumption.
Thus for providing nutrition and particularly protein to the people, it is suggested to nurture the traditional food cuisine of Bangladesh which is sustainable as it mainly consists of vegetables and fish. By achieving sustainable fisheries through increasing the amount of capturing wild fisheries can contribute in providing the high class protein.
Thus it is high time to focus on contributing towards behavioral change communication by encouraging our traditional food and discarding western meat based or unhealthy fast food from our cuisine.
Additionally proper culinary knowledge and usage of different cooking ingredients can contribute significantly in enhancing the taste of any food.
Thus it is important to instill the knowledge of nutrition and impact of meat consumption on climate change and side by side providing lessons of cooking appetizing vegetables by incorporating both traditional and foreign cooking style wherever necessary.
Finally, for changing the perception about consuming meat and encouraging to consume healthy and climate friendly food, extensive behavior change communication is needed. Children nowadays reject vegetables from their meal. Thus educating children about nutrition and teaching them how to cook delicious vegetables can change their perception about consuming vegetables and encourage them to intake nutritious food. For achieving the objective of reviving our traditional culture of food consumption among children both family and school can contribute significantly.
Moreover, government support is needed to reduce the meat production and consumption by contributing in policy level and by providing institutional support.
(Jasia Tahzeeda is a Senior Research Officer (Economist), Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies).
