Abstract/Summary

The overall planning performance of the fisheries sector in Bangladesh over the past three decades was evaluated. Performance has been unsatisfactory largely due to contiguous overestimation of the planning targets and the existence of serious financial, technological, institutional and social constraints. Despite the remarkable growth in export earnings and a stable GDP contribution of 3.2–5.6%, budget allocations remained extremely low (0.7–1.4% of total outlay) in subsequent plan periods. Production from marine fisheries performed satisfactorily with slow growth in recent years, while inland fisheries with initial poor performance showed improvements from the mid-1980s owing to increased productivity in culture fisheries, particularly in pond aquaculture. Targets should be determined with the aid of a thorough review of past performances and there is an urgent need to streamline the implementation capability. Also, a shift from production-oriented planning and seeking technical solutions only to addressing broader institutional and social issues affecting the fisheries sector is essential. Government should emphasize the development of small-scale fisheries, strengthen extension–research linkage, improve infrastructure, build partnerships between relevant agencies and shift its top-down approach to planning towards a participatory bottom-up approach so as to release existing bottlenecks.