In keeping with the spirit of the anti-discrimination campaign, the interim administration has been trying to eradicate discrimination in the fisheries, according to Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter today.
“The government has been working tirelessly to eliminate discrimination in the fisheries to make Bangladesh free from discrimination being imbued with the spirit of the July-August Anti-Discrimination Movement,” she said.
She was speaking as the main guest at the CIRDAP auditorium here at a session called “Challenges and Forward, Rights of Small Scale Fishing Communities: The Context of Bangladesh.”“But the traders in no way be enlisted as fishermen in that case,” the advisor added, stating that those who manage their livelihood through fishing are the actual fishermen.
She also advocated for giving due recognition to fisherwomen, saying there would be no discrimination between men and women in the fisheries sector. “The fishermen will not remain poor anymore if they are given required facilities,” she said. The adviser said there are many species of fishes in the deep sea, but Bangladesh doesn’t extract those due to lack of vessels suitable for fishing in the deep sea. “We have no vessels which can extract the fishes from the deep sea.
If we can truly harness the potential of marine species, especially fish, Bangladesh would no longer be impoverished,” she remarked.
The advisor emphasised the need of preserving native fish species in the rivers and harbours.
“We have to increase local species of fishes,” she said.
Coast Foundation executive director Md Rezaul Karim moderated the seminar while its deputy executive director Sanat Kumar Bhoumik presented the keynote speech.
