Floods Fish and Fishermen

Floodplain fisheries are a major aquatic common property resource in Bangladesh. However, the modification of the floodplains into croplands and the increasing number of people who were fishing the remaining waters seriously endangered this valuable ecosystem. During the Flood Action Plan in the early ‘90s a number of studies were carried out which examined the impact of water management on fisheries. The Compartmentalisation Pilot Project or FAP 20 is a water management project implemented from 1991 until 2000 and was financed by the Governments of Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Germany. Fisheries were a major component of the project and were thoroughly monitored from 1992-2000. The major results were presented in a final report (CPP, 2000) but it was felt that the results obtained and experiences gained on fisheries in the CPP project went beyond the original scope of the program for CPP. Some of them are of importance for inland fisheries in Bangladesh and tropical floodplain fisheries in general and were not covered in the final report. This book presents more detailed information on the different methods applied, results obtained and insight gained on floodplain fisheries in Bangladesh. The book presents the results of a number of analytical fisheries methods such as: habitat stratified fisheries monitoring, the use of Geographical Information System in Fisheries, surplus production modelling and length-based fish stock assessment. These methods are not commonly used in Bangladesh. Therefore the book should be of interest to fisheries scientists, students and policy planners involved with floodplain fisheries management and poverty alleviation.