INTEGRATED PROTECTED AREA CO-MANAGEMENT (IPAC) - BIDS

5.2.2 Gura Fish
As large network of rivers, channels, and creeks are intersecting the Sundarbans forest, the
waterways (175,000 sq. km) offer the best opportunities for fishing grounds for the common
people of SIZ. Gura fish is one of the most common fishes apart from its importance from socioeconomic
perspectives.
Normally gura fish catch takes place on a weekly basis but some also takes place on a daily
basis. One boat (usually manual) consisting of two to three people (depending on size of nets)
carries out the catch through two to three trips in a month.. There are two goons – Bhara goons
and Mara goons, each lasting 4 to 5 days. The remaining days are lean time.
Like in other harvests, some of the intermediaries in this sector as well are themselves involved
with the collection related activities. As in other cases, some of the Farias are also collectors,
some of the Aratdars or even wholesalers often get involved in the collection process. Our
survey shows that on an average one boat with more or less 2-4 collectors catches in the range of
60 to 120 Kg of gura fish.
Generally, Farias cannot sell their catch to anybody other than Aratdars/wholesalers as
contractual obligations. at a price which is not often fair. In the case of gura fish, usually Farias
collect fish from collection grounds. Some Farias who are directly involved in the collection
process sometimes sell their products in villages.
Some Farias invest in nets and boats for fishing, and some borrow money or nets/boats from
local Aratdars at a high interest rate or rent. Average cost of food and others in each trip is
around Tk 2-3 thousand. The owners, however, have investment risks. Sometimes they lose their
whole investment due to cyclone or robbery.
Calculation of costs and returns is found to be complicated as in most cases they harvest multiproducts
(along with gura fish): crab, mollusc, shrimp and large fish. Over and above, like in
other harvests, some of the intermediaries in this sector as well are themselves involved with
the collection related activities. For example, some of the Farias are also collectors, some of
the Mahajans are also Aratdars or wholesalers and vice versa. The study considered those
collectors who fish mainly gura fish. Costs and returns are then adjusted.
Value Addition
Table 5.2 presents costs and returns for gura fish. Monthly gross returns and net returns have
been calculated. Net returns as percentage of working capital have been calculated for each
individual actor. The study considers value addition in terms of price. It can be seen that
collectors provide the highest price value addition, nearly two-thirds (viz. 64.6%) of the total
price, from collection to consumers. Keeping collectors aside, retailers create the highest value
addition (12.3%), followed by Farias (9.2%), wholesalers (7.7%), Aratdars (4.6%) and Choto
Mahajans (1.5%).
Volume of trade
As price value additions do not reflect total profitability it is important to consider the traded
quantity dealt in by actors. Of all the actors, Aratdars carry out highest volume of trade (72.7%),
followed by wholesalers (11.8%), retailers (5.2%) and Choto Mahajans (5.0%) and so on.
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