Wait for marine resource survey nearing ends

The Ministry of Fisheries (MoF) is likely to begin a survey in the Bay of Bengal this winter with a view to assessing the country's marine resources remaining untapped.
The MoF plans to start the survey as soon as the vessel, being constructed in Malaysia for the purpose, is available, officials say.
The ship "RD Min Sandhani" was supposed to reach the country by March last, but the Malaysian ship building company failed to deliver the vessel due to a technical problem. According to sources, the ship is now almost at its final stage of construction.
After completion, Bureau Veritas, a world leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification services, will inspect the vessel before certifying it fit. Finally a Bangladesh team will inspect the vessel before the delivery. Construction of the vessel costs Tk 620 million (Tk 62 crore).
"If everything goes accordingly, it will take 2-3 months before the vessel is available. And we hope to start the survey early this winter," said Anisur Rahman, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
The 37.8-metre-long multipurpose research vessel, equipped with the latest technology for fisheries and other oceanographic research, will be primarily used to carry out the survey for finding out types of fish, distribution of fish species and major fishing grounds in the Bay of Bengal.
According to experts, the country can earn a significant amount of foreign currency and generate substantial employment opportunities by properly utilising the untapped marine resources. But lack of proper survey, skilled manpower, technology and equipment are the main barriers for utilising the marine resources.
"Once we get the vessel, we will start the survey. It will continue till 2018 to have a total picture of the country's marine resources, which remain untapped in our maritime boundary," said the additional secretary.
"We can continue the survey from November to March 2016 this season," said Anisur Rahman. The survey could not be carried out during the summer because of the rough weather, he added.
According to the ministry, they are now readying a team of about 35 experts, comprising personnel from Bangladesh Navy, Marine Academy and MOFL, to carry out the survey. A total of eight people from Bangladesh Navy and the ministry have already been trained in Malaysia to operate the vessel.
Since 1958 several surveys had been conducted to evaluate and promote exploration of fish resources in the Bay of Bengal. But after that, no survey has been conducted since 1983 mainly due to the lack of survey vessels.
The Bay of Bengal is situated south of Bangladesh. There is a total of 166,000 sq-km water area including an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). About 200 trawlers and 60,000 mechanised and non-mechanised boats are engaged in fishing in the Bay. However, fishing is only confined to 200 metres in the Bay while deep-sea resources are still untapped.
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