RESUMEN
Like most sectors, the aquaculture and fisheries sector especially in developing countries like Bangladesh is believed to have been severely affected by this unique coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. To overcome the adverse impacts of COVID-19, the aquaculture and fisheries economy needs urgent recovery plans which this study focusses on using a mixed-method including online questionnaire surveys, face-to-face and telephonic interviews and focus group discussions during June - November 2020. This study reveals some positive impacts on ecosystem and fish stock (e.g., increase in fish stock) due to less disturbance of fishing activities, but that are not able to bring societal benefits as all the fisheries sub-sectors are affected differently by the pandemic. There are disrupted transportation systems and increased transportation costs (around 20 - 60% higher than normal), more input and maintenance costs and less demand for/and decreased market price of fish. There are also shortages of labourers and reduced patrolling to implement fishery regulations. Cancellation of orders by foreign buyers has seriously affected the shrimp and crab sub-sectors. The fisheries-dependent people's capital assets and activities have been mostly negatively affected resulting in a worsened livelihood. This study has suggested a set of immediate and long-term changes to policy and action plans to recover this sector and sub-sectors from the pandemic considering economic, social and environmental sustainability. The findings of this study may have important implications not only for Bangladesh but also for other fisheries dependent developing countries with similar impacts by the virus like in South Asia.
RESUMEN
Social sustainability in fisheries focuses on retaining or improving societal welfare in the fishery system without threatening its long-term financial benefits and socio-cultural welfare. However, often social sustainability issues are ignored while implementing any fisheries management actions rather than only focusing on economic and environmental sustainability issues. This study assesses the social sustainability in Bangladesh marine fisheries management gaining insights from the coastal and marine fisheries-dependent communities of Hatiya Upazila in 2021-2022 using a mixed method approach especially focusing on the social issues during the marine fishing ban. Results have shown positive effects on fish production but negative implications on the socio-economic circumstances of the reliant households after the implementation of the marine fishing ban. During the ban, the ability of around 33 % of fisher households to have 3 meals a day has drastically reduced to 2 or 1 meal per day. Households' average fish intake has reduced from 7 kg to 4 kg per week during the ban. Similarly, there have been detrimental effects on family relationships, healthcare access and children's education during the ban. Moreover, pregnant women and children have suffered greatly from protein deficiencies as fishers could not buy protein-rich foods for their families during the ban. Due to the shortage of alternate income-generating activities (AIGAs), almost 71 % of fishers became indebted during the ban. To assist the fishers during the ban, the government has implemented several measures, such as offering incentives (40 kg of rice per registered fisherman per month) and/or AIGA but those are too scant to recompense for the loss that is incurred due to the fishing ban. Finally, this study provides some way forward to bring social sustainability that is affected due to the marine fishing ban as well as to partly meet the targets of Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 14 and 15.