Hilsa shad is the largest single fish species, contributing 12% of the total fish production in Bangladesh.Since the rapid decline of its harvest in early 2000, the government of Bangladesh took various initiativesto accelerate the hilsa production and introduced the hilsa fisheries management action plan in 2005. UnderWorldFish led enhanced coastal fisheries project, implemented in partnership with the Department of Fisheries,the hilsa fishery reversed and experienced record harvest in 2016. Therefore, this study was undertaken toexplore the contributions and benefits of this increased hilsa shad production among value chain actors. Theresults revealed that increased catches have significant impacts on the volumes of hilsa that were handled bythe value chain actors, which depressed market price along the value chain. However, the increased amountsof hilsa harvested compensated for the reduced price and led to increased profits, increased household incomesof the value chain actors, and enhanced fish consumption at the household levels. The increased hilsa catchalso had positive and significant impacts on credit repayment. Therefore, the incentive-based co-managementsystem deserves continuation to improve the livelihood of the poor hilsa fishers, to increase the income ofthe value chain actors and to ensure a sustainable hilsa fishery for Bangladesh.
展开▼
