A case study of illegal fishing causes during seasonal fishery closure in Kaptai Lake, Bangladesh

Shalehin, Md.S.; Parvez, Md.T.; Lucas, M.C.; Galib, S.M.

doi:10.1111/fme.12536

A case study of illegal fishing causes during seasonal fishery closure in Kaptai Lake, Bangladesh

Shalehin, Md.S.; Parvez, Md.T.; Lucas, M.C.; Galib, S.M.

Authors

Md.S. Shalehin

Md.T. Parvez

Professor Martyn Lucas m.c.lucas@durham.ac.uk
Professor

S.M. Galib

Abstract

Growing evidence shows that conservation strategies such as fishing bans may adversely affect the livelihoods of low-income communities, which often encourages community members to fish illegally. In this study, we determined the underlying factors that influenced fishermen to engage in illegal fishing during the closed season in the largest lake of Bangladesh, Kaptai Lake. Out of 231 fishermen interviewed, 46.8% were engaged in illegal fishing during the closed season. Engagement in illegal fishing was positively related to receipt of a financial loan and negatively related to receipt of a government subsidy and secondary occupation of the fishermen. Financial gain by selling the fish was the prime motive for illegal fishing. Surprisingly, fishermen received a 36% lower price for illegally harvested fish during the closed season (mean price ± SD, BDT 95.8 ± 64.9), when compared to that during the open fishing season (BDT 151.5 ± 64.9). Mid-level actors secured 99%–154% more profit during the closed season. This study shows that multiple factors are important for the engagement of fishermen in illegal fishing, and therefore, an integrated conservation policy considering all causative factors should be employed to achieve more effective conservation in the region's inland waters.

Citation

Shalehin, M., Parvez, M., Lucas, M., & Galib, S. (2022). A case study of illegal fishing causes during seasonal fishery closure in Kaptai Lake, Bangladesh. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 29(5), 542-551. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12536

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 14, 2022
Online Publication Date	Feb 27, 2022
Publication Date	2022-10
Deposit Date	Mar 5, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Feb 27, 2023
Journal	Fisheries Management and Ecology
Print ISSN	0969-997X
Electronic ISSN	1365-2400
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	29
Issue	5
Pages	542-551
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12536

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Copyright Statement
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Shalehin, Md.S., Parvez, Md.T., Lucas, M.C. & Galib, S.M. (2022). A case study of illegal fishing causes during seasonal fishery closure in Kaptai Lake, Bangladesh. Fisheries Management and Ecology 29(5): 542-551., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12536. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.