Local varieties or varieties grafted on local rootstocks
Crop Association
Integrated pest management (IPM)
Prunining and formation of fruit trees
Hilsa Conservation Foundation
The Hilsa Conservation Foundation would act as a conservation trust fund (CTF). The CTF would provide some financial stability to Bangladesh’s overall hilsa fishery management programme, the efficacy of which has been impacted by lack of resources. A successful CTF would provide a source of finance that remains stable and reliable even in times of national economic or political shock, for supporting both ecological and social activities related to hilsa fishery management, such as BBI and BBII respectively.
A multi-stakeholder workshop was held in 2015 for establishing the primary objectives of a hilsa CTF: these included sustainability of conservation schemes, wide coverage of fishers adversely impacted by hilsa fisheries management activities, equitable distribution of benefits from hilsa conservation, actions to promote restoration and conservation, and development of alternative livelihood activities for hilsa fishers. Participation from the outset is key to ensuring CTFs have context-specific, relevant and appropriate objectives.
To be successful, CTF’s must adhere to certain design criteria. This may include a detailed feasibility analysis, the establishment of a clear focus and conservation value, a participatory governance structure, and defined monitoring and evaluation standards
There are a range of financing options available for CTFs – this could include fish export tax revenue, beneficiary fees, drawing on existing climate funds, drawing on a deposit into a fund with fair dividend rate, etc. Which mechanism is appropriate is context-dependent
Think carefully about what kind of institutional mechanisms would ensure good governance in CTFs – e.g. a diverse board of governors (including high level government, NGO, fishing associations, the private sector) could help insulate a CTF from political agendas
Food and income-based compensation scheme for fishers
To support the overall hilsa fishery management plan, food grain compensation or training on alternative income-generation is provided to households directly impacted by hilsa fishing bans. Households receive either a monthly ration of rice throughout the long (four-month) fishing ban period, or they receive training and materials to help them diversify their income. If in receipt of the latter (referred to as AIGA – alternative income-generating activities), households are typically not entitled to rice compensation. Under AIGA, training offered includes livestock rearing, sewing, agriculture and net-mending.
Both the food grain and the AIGA schemes are government schemes which were already established before the fisheries scheme, meaning these schemes could be readily linked to the fisheries scheme.
Because the food grain and AIGA schemes pre-date the national fishery management plan, neither were necessarily well-suited to addressing the complexities of fishing-based livelihoods
Households receiving AIGA were generally not entitled to food grain, and uptake for the AIGA scheme was very low – in around 2014 only some 0.5% of households received this kind of support
Ensuring participation from the outset of compensation scheme design will help to address this issue by ensuring local needs and wants are accounted for
Many non-monetary benefits and costs, including opportunity costs, can be very difficult to account for and value
Each year there is a nationwide ban on catching, selling, transporting, marketing or possessing juvenile hilsa fish from 1st of November – 30thJune, 2-3 months complete ban on all kind of fishing including juvenile hilsa target species in 5 sanctuary areas (river stretches) in the major hilsa nursery ground and an additional short ban of 15 days in September/October at four hilsa spawning locations. This is to allow for protection of hilsa fish stock and uninterrupted spawning. Boat rallies are used to raise awareness and support for the fishing bans, as well as mass media, leaflets and posters explaining the importance of hilsa conservation.
The central government must have the will and resources to be able to introduce a nationwide scheme such as this – in Bangladesh there exists a raft of acts providing the legal framework to support hilsa fishery management
For the fishing ban to be effectively enforced, there must be good coordination between any central government bodies with jurisdiction over fisheries
Good quality of ecological baseline data on spawning is an essential requirement for developing an appropriate fishing ban schedule
Illegal juvenile hilsa fishing hasincreased since 2011; a major reason for this is the lack of resources available to support ban enforcement operations at night. Corruption (bribery) also hindered ban enforcement. Such issues damage the perceived legitimacy of the entire fisheries management scheme
Decentralisation and devolvement of management and magistracy powers could potentially alleviate such issues
Lack of equipment and supplies, such as boats and food, inhibit the capacity of staff to carry out enforcement activities even during the day
There is a sense that some of the costs and benefits of the fisheries management plan are not distributed fairly: for example, it is perceived that fishers in bordering countries benefit from the increase in fish stock that result from fishing bans that impact only Bangladeshi fishers
