30% of fish harvest wasted due to illegal nets, targeted fishing: Fisheries adviser
She warns of declining fish diversity as many inland fish varieties are disappearing
Bangladesh is losing nearly a third of its fish after harvest, mainly due to the use of illegal nets and wasteful fishing practices, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter said today (29 September).
"Fishing vessels usually go out to the sea targeting specific species such as hilsa, using technology to locate them. They catch everything using illegal nets but only keep the fish they want and end up throwing away much of the catch. This causes huge losses to marine life.
"Sometimes the post-harvest loss exceeds 30%," she said.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Farida made the remarks while addressing a national conference "Towards Zero Food Waste and Loss: Building a Sustainable Food Value Chain in Bangladesh", organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
The fisheries adviser also pointed to a paradox in Bangladesh's food system.
She highlighted that while 16% of the population suffers from severe food insecurity as of April this year, overconsumption and inequality remain widespread.
"Our farmers are producing, but they don't get fair prices or proper infrastructure support for storage. Finally, they are being forced to give up," she said.
The adviser highlighted how the fisheries sector has changed in recent decades. Once, 60% of the country's fish came from wetlands—rivers, canals, and haors—and 40% from aquaculture. That ratio has now reversed.
"While availability has increased, fish diversity has declined. We once had 267 varieties of inland fish, but many are disappearing," she remarked.
CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun, who moderated the event, said food loss was a critical obstacle to ensuring food security. "Despite remarkable growth over the last five decades, Bangladesh still suffers from malnutrition and undernutrition.
"Food distribution is unequal. That's why reducing food loss is crucial to ensuring food security," she added.
The conference was organised in partnership with the Embassy of Denmark, FAO, the World Bank and WFP. Anders Karlsen, chargé d'affaires of the Danish Embassy; Dia Sanou, FAO deputy representative; Jesse Wood, deputy country director of the World Food Programme; and Food Ministry Additional Secretary Mohammad Yasin also spoke at the event.
