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Urban and Peri-urban Aquaculture as an Immediate Source of Food Fish: Perspectives of Dhaka City, Bangladesh

MD. SHAHIDUL ISLAM
Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan

MUHAMMAD TANVIR HOSSAIN CHOWDHURY
Extension Officer, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, People’s Republic of Bangladesh

MD. MOKHLESUR RAHMANM
Consultant, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, People’s Republic of Bangladesh

MD. ANWAR HOSSAIN
Laboratory of Aquatic Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences,The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

This paper describes the present status of aquaculture activities in Dhaka City and its surrounding areas including the system of fish marketing and distribution and environmental and socioeconomic issues. Dhaka city contains over 10 million people and is expanding day by day. The demand for fish in the last 10 years has increased as a result of increases in population and income levels. The annual per capita consumption of fish is reported to drop by 0.5 kg since 1985. The reason for this decline is increased prices and decreased supply of fish. Fish supply to the city comes from catch in the rivers-estuaries and flood lands of Dhaka district, neighboring districts, imports from other areas and aquaculture in surrounding areas of the city. Considerable quantities of fish are imported from India, Myanmar and Thailand. Seasonal patterns are common both in the supply and consumption of fish. Along with traditional rural household aquaculture, in recent years, urban and peri-urban aquaculture has also been popular. Three broad types of aquaculture activities are found in and around Dhaka City; these are polyculture of carp in ponds, monoculture of catfish in ponds, and pen and cage aquaculture in open waters. The carp includes both Indian major carp and Chinese carp and some minor carp. The catfish group includes mainly Thai pangas (Pangasiussutchi). Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is also widely popular among farmers. The technology used for aqua-culture is improved extensively to semi-intensive. Increasing demand for fish in the city markets has encouraged the expansion of peri-urban aquaculture with a corresponding increase in the proportion of farmed fish in the markets.

Keywords: Urban aquaculture, Food fish, Fish marketing, Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Location: Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Resource Development and Management

Commodity: Fish

Objectives:

The present paper describes the results of direct observations of the fish farms and culture units and different fish markets. Fish farmers and fish traders at different levels were interviewed to provide a comprehensive idea on urban aquaculture systems, fish marketing and distribution channels and associated issues. Almost all the major fish markets and farming units in and around the city were visited and over 50 people of different categories were interviewed. Although it yielded very little information, officials from the Government organizations were also interviewed.

Methodology:

Present trendsAquaculture activities in urban areas in Bangladesh have not been developed to commercial levels because of higher population densities and scarcity of enough land area. This is particularly true for Dhaka City. However, large amounts of fish are marketed and distributed in the city every day. Among the water bodies inside the city, some government-owned large ponds and lakes are important culturable water areas. These water bodies are partially being used for fish culture. However, commercial aquaculture has been developed to a considerable extent in peri-urban areas around the city. Encompassing the city are large areas of low-lying land that take the form of vast floodplains during the monsoon. Hundreds of hectares of these floodplains are fed by three big rivers namely, Buriganga, Shitalakhsa and Turag (Ali, 1991; Tsai and Ali, 1997). These large areas of open water bodies are not utilized for aquaculture activities. However, recently, some forms of aquaculture activities have been developed in the floodplains around the city, particularly near Madartek and Manda at the east and Kamrangir Char at the west. Pen and cage cultures are the two main forms of aquaculture. Despite the absence of any reliable estimate as to the exact number of aquaculture farms in Dhaka City, a rough estimate suggests that there are around 150 fish farms around the city and the number has been increasing gradually since 1980. Species cultured and culture systems The culture systems mainly involve the polyculture of carp. Like other areas of Bangladesh, this form of aquaculture has been developed on a commercial scale around the city. Among the carp species, Indian major carp (Labeo rohita, Catla catla, Cirhinus mrigala, Labeocalbasu) and Chinese carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Cypri-nus carpio) along with some minor carp such as Thai sarpunti (Puntius gonionotus) are the main species. In recent days, tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) has been gaining popularity as a cash crop to most of the farmers. Polyculture of carp is practiced with varying species combinations and densities in different areas. Intensification and use of inputs in fish farms depend on a number of factors including the availability of seeds, feeds, fertilizer etc. The culture period usually starts in May-June and continues until November-December. Recently, farmers are increasingly interested in the monoculture of catfish, such as Thai pangus (Pangusius sutchi) and others, which are in high demand in the fish market. Based on the improved management methods, higher growth rates with supplementary feeds, wide popularity and higher market price, monoculture of pangus around Dhaka City has been a blooming fish farming industry.

Source of Information: Urban Ecosystems, 7: 341–359, 2004

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Dhaka City is one of 30 megacities of the world in terms of population density. Urban and peri-urban aquaculture around Dhaka City is a growing industry in recent years based on the fact that most of the consumers with potential purchasing capacity belong to the urban areas and, at the same time, large areas of seasonally inundated lands around the city offers development of aquaculture industries around the city. Moreover, fish production around the city offers immense potential to reduce the production and marketing cost of fish by reducing the intervention of the intermediaries and minimizing the transportation, preservation and storage costs which are some of the costly events in the marketing of rural aquaculture products. At the same time, reduction in transportation and storage time ensures the supply of freshly caught fish to the consumers at a low price. Besides, the development of urban and peri-urban aquaculture contributes to poverty alleviation through employment generation and offers an excellent opportunity to recycle municipal wastes by conversion of waste materials into consumable products. However, urban aquaculture should be critically attended from the environmental and public health point of view and the initiatives should be taken by the Government or NGOs for large-scale development of urban aquaculture industries on a sustainable basis.

Knowledge Management: Journal