Developing Pond Fisheries In Bangladesh: Some Findings Of A Study On Credit And Marketing Aspects

The article describes the credit and marketing aspects of pond fisheries in two districts (old) of, Bangladesh. From each district 75 fish pond owners, receiving credit from banks for fishery purposes were studied. The recipients of fishery credit are generally the medium and large farmers, having average size of 7.50 acres in both the areas. Utilization of fishery credit was found to be more or less satisfactory. However, the repayment performance was disappointing. Less than ten percent of the borrowed undo were diverted for family consumption. Disposal of surplus fish did not pose a serious problem. In majority of the cases about half of the catch was consumed at home and the surplus was sold to the local fishermen. Non-availability of good quality fries from government fish farms was found to be the most discouraging factor for scientific fish culture. The performance of the Upazela Fishery Officer is rendering technical services to the pond owners for pisciculture was also found far from satisfactory. Thus provision of adequate credit facilities, good quality fish fries and technical knowledge for fish culture are essential for pond fisheries development in Bangladesh.