Ocean is not only a means for making money, but also it is a limited and vulnerable asset which requires careful management and stewardship to get the most out of it. Ocean selflessly offers its bounty to us but we in South Asia have not been able to exploit the abundance of treasure under ocean. As in Bangladesh, we do not even have adequate survey to learn and identify maritime resources and so the country has not been able to harness the full potential of its ocean resources.
There is an abundance of resources under the blue ocean which can serve us for generations. 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 and sustainable economic growth. Also successful extraction of ocean resources can help the country eradicate poverty, ensure food security and generate sustainable as well as inclusive employments. In this regard, Bangladesh needs to leverage conservation and utilisation of marine and coastal eco-systems in an efficient manner.
successful extraction of ocean
resources can help the country
eradicate poverty, ensure
food security and generate
sustainable as well as
inclusive employments
Bangladesh has successfully resolved delimitation of its maritime boundary. The country is now also financially and technically capable of exploiting its huge maritime resources. Thus the opening up of the Blue Economy has given the countrymen a new hope which was beyond our imagination even 10 years back.
The scope of blue economy covers an array of things like fishing, oil and gas, minerals, maritime trade and shipping etc. Reportedly, about 5 years ago, Blue Economic Cell decided to conduct multi-client seismic surveys to verify the probability of acquisition of oil and gas in the larger area of the Bay of Bengal, unfortunately yet its progress has been insignificant. In this regard, an immediate need for developing an integrated coastal management system in order to explore new offshore gas reserves has emerged.
