A landmark verdict by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague, on July 07 awarded Bangladesh an area of 19,467 square kilometres out of total 25,602 sq km under dispute with India in the Bay of Bengal. The PCA delivered the verdict after around five years of arguments and counter-arguments by the two countries and examination of survey reports.
Under the UN Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the judgment is final and is 'binding' on both the countries. The large fishing area located in the south of the Sunderbans now falls into the Bangladesh territory.
Earlier, on March 14 in 2012, the German-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) awarded Bangladesh around 70,000 sq km out of total 80,000 sq km of disputed boundary with Myanmar.
Bangladesh's maritime boundary in the Bay has now been extended by 667 sq km to 118,813 sq km by the two verdicts. It now has an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles and sovereign rights on undersea resources in the continental shelf up to 345 nautical miles off the Chittagong coast. The legal gain has now to be converted into an economic one by tapping and exploiting the hidden resources.
The sea area is important both commercially and militarily. The immediate task before Bangladesh, therefore, is to prepare and adopt a comprehensive plan for exploring and developing undersea resources.
MASTER PLAN: A well-coordinated master plan should be prepared which may include the following:
a. Security and control over the area: The Bangladesh Navy is now responsible for the management of sea and coastal waters, including overall supervision, security, and procurement of marine resources. The Bangladesh Coast Guard is also engaged in the same areas. It is, therefore, imperative that the Navy should now be modernised and strengthened with additional fleet and manpower.
At the same time, the work area of the Coast Guard should also be expanded. Other necessary facilities should also be improved.
b. Conducting survey: The Directorate of Survey is responsible for preparation, preservation and distribution of records of our land, water and aerial boundaries. The Directorate should now undertake the task of fixing the maritime boundaries in the light of the two landmark judgments. The Bangladesh Navy, the Coast Guard, and concerned academic and research organisations should extend full cooperation in this regard.
c. Establishing a marine affairs ministry or directorate: A ministry or directorate may be set up to better manage our maritime area which is almost equal to our total land area. It is important that a separate budget be allocated and various programmes for development, research, training and higher education on maritime affairs be undertaken. Our future development depends on maritime security, maintenance and sustainable use of marine resources.
d. Procurement of fish resources: The Bay of Bengal is the silver mine of Bangladesh. It is the home to 475 species of sea fish, 36 species of prawn, 15 varieties of crab, five varieties of lobster, 301 varieties of oyster, snail and cockle, 56 varieties of moss and many other commercially important resources.
In 2012-13, a quantity of 5, 88,988 tonnes of sea fish was collected from our sea area, which is 17 per cent of our annual fish collection. Total hilsha production in 2012-13 was 3,51,223 tonnes, 72 per cent of which came from sea areas. In the same manner, export of fish and fish products during 2012-13 fiscal was 84,905 tonnes and was worth Tk. 43.13 billion, which is 2.01 per cent of our total export earnings.
Fish resources of the area can also meet food deficit and nutrition needs and help alleviate poverty by creating employment opportunities.
OIL, GAS AND MINERALS: Experts believe, there is a huge reserve of oil and gas under the sea area of Bangladesh. Lifting and transmission to the national grid of gas from the Sangu basin is a glaring example to this effect. Because of financial and technological limitations, proper exploration work could not be undertaken so long to locate and assess reserve of the undersea resources. To achieve the objective, we will require efficient manpower, technological improvement, and sufficient fund and patronisation.
EFFICIENT MANPOWER: Procurement and utilisation of untapped marine resources will not be possible without human resource development at the national level. Therefore, in order to utilise sea resources for the economic development of the country, higher education and better research facilities are essential. The Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries at the Chittagong University has been producing efficient manpower over the years. They are now manning the marine affairs departments at the Khulna University, the Noakhali Science and Technology University and the Sylhet Agriculture University. These institutions should now be further strengthened with increased fund allocation for research.
Example of Thailand can be cited in this context. The country has excelled in sea management and exploitation of marine resources. It had joined hands with ten other South-East Asian countries to set up the South East Asian Fisheries Development Centre where people of the member-countries involved in marine fisheries development are imparted necessary training, starting from collection of fish to various aspects of resource management. Moreover, after years of non-stop fishing in the sea, it has now decided to stop fishing and instead started procuring fish from other countries to process and re-export the same. The Thai government earns about US$5,000 million per year on this account. The earning is equivalent to Tk 360 billion.
The writer is a TV personality.
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