I Bangladesh kompenserer regeringen fattige familier med gratis ris for til gengæld ikke at spise den stærkt truede hilsha-fisk. Sammen med en international miljøorganisation (IIED) arbejder regeringen på at involvere lokalbefolkningen i at udvikle et bæredygtigt fiskeri.
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and regional partners have launched a project that aims to conserve the most important fish species in the cuisine of Bangladesh — the hilsha — by redesigning a system that rewards people who help to protect it.
The hilsha fishery provides one per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP, so the fate of the fish is of national importance,” says project leader Dr Essam Yassin Mohammed of IIED.
“But the hilsha is a fish in trouble. It is popular and affordable to even low-income families but as more people catch more hilsha, scientists fear the fish population could collapse.”
The hilsha (Tenualosa ilisha) fishery employs nearly half a million full-time and 2.5 million part-time workers.
Regeringen kompenserer befolkningen med ris i stedet for fisk
In 2005, after pressure on the fish species had grown, the Government of Bangladesh declared four coastal areas as hilsha sanctuaries (fredede områder), in which fishing is illegal during the fish’s breeding season.
The government compensates the nearly 200,000 affected households with 30 kilogrammes of rice each.
“This is a rare example of a scheme that provides direct incentives for fishery conservation and, with improvements, it could provide valuable lessons that are relevant worldwide,” says Dr Mohammed.
Research in 2012 showed that flaws (fejl) in the scheme reduce its value for either conserving fish stocks or supporting the poorest fishers whom the ban affects.
These flaws reflect gaps in knowledge on both the functioning of complex marine ecosystems, and socio-economic characteristics of the fisher communities.
Involvering af lokalsamfundet
IIED, the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and Bangladesh Agricultural University — in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries of the Government of Bangladesh — will work with the affected communities to assess the current scheme and then use ecological and socio-economic studies to find ways to improve it.
The UK Department for Environment and Rural Affairs will fund the work through its Darwin Initiative.
“An improved payment mechanism that better targets the households affected by the ban can reduce threats to the fish species and help to reduce poverty by maintaining a source of food and jobs for the poor,” says Dr Mohammed.
“To do this we will work with the communities themselves, in a participatory process, so that their knowledge, experience and needs are central to the new design.”
Options include changes to the type and timing of compensation, to who receives compensation, to what the compensated fishing households need to do.
Oprettelse af fond skal kompensere lokale
Another idea, whose viability the researchers will assess is a Hilsha Fish Conservation Fund.
This could take some of the US$630 million a year in tax revenue that the government gains from hilsha exports each year and spend it on compensation and other means to conserve hilsha stocks.
IIED in partnership with BCAS and BAU coordinated a workshop in Dhaka last week to launch the project with representatives of the government of Bangladesh, fishing communities and research centres.
“The incentive mechanism can help achieve both social and ecological objectives,” said Uzzal Bikash Dutta, Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
Fakta om IIED:
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent, non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in London, IIED provides expertise and leadership in researching and achieving sustainable development (see: www.iied.org).
http://www.iied.org/compensation-for-conservation-bangladesh-s-national-fish
