Marine legal protection accord inadequate

Speakers at an orientation programme for Fisheries Officers of Cox's Bazar on 'The laws and Regulations in Relation to Fishries' said this on September 14.

Under the project of Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Communities for Livelihood Security (ECFC), Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) organised the programme.

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Iqbal Kabir, Shakil Ahmed Khan and Zahid Hossain of BELA were present as rsource persons. They discussed the existing laws and regulations on conservation and pollution control of environment, Marine fisheries, and bio-diversity and focused on invisible impact in the coastal fishery systems.

Concluding session was chaired by Dr Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, National Project Director, ECFC project.

The speakers said the coastal resources have been subjected to depletion because of pollution, over-fishing, inadequate conservation measures and destructive fishing mechanism. It has a tremendous potential to contribute to uplifting of the community provided proper management is ensured, they added. The legal protection accord is inadequate and mostly unimplemented due to lack of clear-cut policy direction, absence of compliance mechanism and lack of awareness, they said.

The ECFC project initiates to uplifting of the fishing community with a well designed package with the support of eight NGOs. BELA under the project provides legal aid services to the coastal fisherfolk, awareness raising activities and advocacy to address the lacuna in legal and enforcement mechanism.

Fisheries officers, local journalists, and Marine Fisheries Officers participated in the programme. They made important remarks from their practical experiences which would help work to the policy level. The representatives from the fishing community also took part in the discussion.