IUU Fishing and Laws of Bangladesh
Snapshot Review
Disclosure: The write up was previously published in the Daily Star
Fishing is one of the major livelihoods of the coastal populace of Bangladesh. To garner potentials of blue economy prospects, it is critical for Bangladesh to spearhead the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The incidents of IUU fishing activities are of significant concern to the littoral states of the Bay of Bengal. Among coastal states of the Bay of Bengal, no countries are better poised to address challenges of IUU fishing than Bangladesh. Unfortunately, IUU fishing activities in the maritime zones of Bangladesh have been persisted due to lack of legal and administrative monitoring, and surveillance mechanisms.
As of now, there is no reliable estimated record of IUU fishing activities in the Bay of Bengal ocean realm. However, the news outlets’ frequent citations of incidents about IUU fishing activities in the Bay of Bengal are particularly alarming. Apart from that, the problem of the IUU fishing activities is also veering into bulwark towards achieving Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
All these concerns are menacingly interweaved together, when we look into the existing legal regime of Bangladesh regarding protection of living marine resources…
