INTEGRATED PROTECTED AREA CO-MANAGEMENT (IPAC) - BIDS

honey flowers 102 . Second, which is more important, in the past two months (April and May,
2010) the repair work of Sidr-affected embankments undertaken by the Army has created
massive employment in the locality, and the Mawalis have chosen to be employed there rather
than traveling a long distance to forest area for honey extraction. The Mawalis reported that Tk
200 per day as wage was a far better option than what is earned from honey extraction amidst
risk of forest pirates, river pirates and tigers. In consequence, dadon business in the locality has
considerably declined. This gives a clear message that Mawalis or Bawalis would not exert
pressure on the SRF providing they get alternative opportunities for employment and income.
Creating income options such as “closed fish culture” in the saline environment will not only
reduce the pressure on the SRF but also increase the per capita collection for the fishers. The
Fish Research Center at Paikgacha can take further initiatives apart from their existing activities
in this regard.
Save the species from getting lost
Appropriate policy to conserve the fish resources has to be taken before it is too late. The fishes
that are in the process of extinction are subject to conservation for the ecology of the forest and
also to increase “per capita collection”.
Fishing by trawling ship
The process, through which the trawling ships undertake catching fishes, needs serious
consideration in the light of conservation and reproduction.
One of the major problems related to resource management in fisheries and aquatic resources is
indiscriminate collection of shrimp and other aquatic fries, resulting in extinction of valuable
aquatic species 103 . The exploitation of jatka fish and use of ‘current’ nets in fishing have no
option asserted by fisher collectors themselves as they have little income support during lean
periods. One other problem is related to additional pressure on SRF fisheries due to increase in
the number of fishers and fishing trawlers catches.
Leasing Canals/Khals
Some of the khals or canals are leased out to big companies who use trawling ships for fishing.
Some of these people use medicines and poisonous (chemical) substances to catch fishes, which
kill all the living beings in those leased-out canals. There should be strict regulations to check
this type of activities so that the reproduction of the fishes or other species is not hampered. The
participants of FGDs, by and large, suggested stopping leasing out canals and khals around SRF
104 .
6.5 Co-management and Conservation of the SRF
Co-management of SRF was not much a directly related topic in the context of the current value
chain analysis study. While data and information on value chains of various SRF products were
much demanding one had to be satisfied with limited feedback from the respondents on the issue
102
Further study is needed on the impact of CC on honey production.
103 This was also observed by Islam et al (2005), BIDS. During shrimp fry collection, for example, about 60-70 fry
types of other species are caught. Besides, other growing aquatic plants and micro bio-diversity are destroyed under
the feet of the fry collectors.
104
This has long been felt by stakeholders of SIZ (Islam et al 2005, BIDS).
165