A roundtable meeting on the scope of Maritime Protected Area (MPA) management and exploring further opportunities in Bangladesh was held at Westin, Dhaka on 29 December 2021, Wednesday, from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm. The program was hosted by IUCN Bangladesh under the project entitled “Ecosystem Based Sustainable Management of Nijhum Dwip Marine Protected Area (MPA), ECOFISH II”, being implemented by Department of Fisheries and WorldFish Bangladesh and supported by the USAID.

Representatives from two ministries i.e. Department of Fisheries and Bangladesh Forest Department, many scientists, members from Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, leading Maritime and Oceanographic Research Institutes, Academicians, World Bank Bangladesh, Union Porishod of costal area and fishes took part in the discussion.
 

While discussing on MPA, Captain M Minarul Hoque, (H), BCGM, psc, BN, Director General, BIMRAD mentioned that before implementing any restriction on fishers for fishing in the Nijhum Dwip MPA, they should be under cover of social safety net. The fishers of Nijhum Dwip should also be offered with alternative employment facilities during restriction periods. Moreover developing awareness among fishers and tourists should be the key factor for protecting MPA, where marshaling in the MPA by the law enforcing authorities may play the additional role. He also mentioned that our total sea area is limited and demarcated. So achieve SDGs through various blue economy initiatives should be done through proper scientific research and all the stakeholders must be included in the process. Mr Raquibul Amin, Country Representative, IUCN Bangladesh moderated the entire program.