Bangladesh emerges as 3rd largest in fish production

by Naim-Ul-Karim
DHAKA, July 20 (NsNewsWire ) — Bangladesh has gone up two notches to rank 3rd worldwide in inland fish production rankings released by FAO, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization,reports Xinhua.
Bangladesh now only trails behind China which maintained its reign over global rankings, and India, the second position.
Bangladeshi Fisheries and Livestock Minister Narayon Chandra Chanda revealed the FAO report at a press briefing on the occasion of Bangladesh‘s National Fisheries Week-2018, which begins Thursday.
According to the minister, Bangladesh fisheries sector that employs some 8 million people fully or partially, now contributes 3.57 percent of the country’s GDP with an average fish intake of 62.58 gram per person per day.
Bangladesh, which identified 298 species of fish and 23 species of shrimp within its maritime boundary through a latest survey, fetched some 45 billion taka (1 U.S. dollar equals to about 84 taka) by exporting around 69,000 metric tons of fish and fish items in the last 2017-18 fiscal year (July 2017-2018), he said.
According to the FAO report, Bangladesh produced a total of 10,48,242 tonnes of fish from inland water bodies in 2016, about 2.4 percent higher than that in 2015, that was a great step forward for the country.
China topped the list with 23,18,046 tonnes, while India was in second place with 14,62,063 tonnes, the report revealed.
According to the report which FAO, Myanmar and Cambodia secured fourth and fifth positions.
The 2018 edition of FAO’s report, “the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” emphasizes the sectors role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and measurement of progress towards these goals. It notes the particular contributions of inland and small-scale fisheries, and highlights the importance of rights-based governance for equitable and inclusive development.
According to the report, China is the main fish producer and since 2002 has also been the largest exporter of fish and fish products. Behind China, Norway is the next largest exporter of fish and fish products, followed by Vietnam.
The European Union followed by the United States and Japan are the major importers of fish and fish products, the report revealed.  Enditem