While speaking at a webinar on the topic of: "Blue Economy in the post Covid-19 Era: Resilience Strategies for the Coastal States" organized by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University (BSMRMU) on Thursday, speakers rightly said that blue economy can lead the country’s financial sector by exploring its full potential and helping recover the losses caused by Covid-19 quickly.
Bay of Bengal has long been contributing to Bangladesh’s economic growth and can serve us with a plenty of resources that can help the country ensure food security, eradicate poverty boost economic growth and generate sustainable as well as inclusive employments. It needs no emphasizing that safe and environmentally sustainable extraction of sea resources will make a remarkable contribution to the wellbeing of our future generation.
Safe and environmentally sustainable extraction of
sea resources will make a remarkable contribution
to the wellbeing of our future generation
We have come to know that Bangladesh does not have adequate number of big ships to catch fish in the deep sea. Our fishermen are fishing near the coast in small boats or trawlers. This approach must be changed in no time. We need big ships to catch fishes efficiently, which will help fuel our export earnings.
Reportedly, Bangladesh has 1, 18,813 square kilometres of maritime area and more than 30 million people directly depend on oceanic economic activities like fisheries and commercial transportation. But still we are lagging behind in exploiting its blue economy potential due to lack of technology and efficient manpower. Also Bangladesh has not been able to conduct adequate survey to learn and identify maritime resources.
There is an abundance of resources under the ocean that need to be tapped prudently. It is time to learn and identify the amount of resources available in the sea.
In this regard, integrating new technology and conducting adequate and quality research has become very much pertinent. Private sector can play an important role in improving country’s maritime research and surveys. Therefore, the government should embark on a plan to involve private sector in its coastal development and management plan.
