Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068

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Ocean and Coastal Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman

Status and potential of ecosystem approach to fisheries management

(EAFM) in Bangladesh
Md. Monirul Islam a, *, Md. Nahiduzzaman b, Renerio Acosta c, Masud Ara Mome d,
Md. Abdul Wahab b
a
Department of Fisheries, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
b
WorldFish, Bangladesh & South Asia Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh
c
USAID Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
d
Department of Fisheries, Matshya Bhaban, Dhaka, Bangladesh

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The vulnerability of coastal and marine ecosystems provides strong arguments for the adoption of the ecosystem
Ecosystem approach approach to fisheries management (EAFM) which incorporates both human and ecosystem well-being with good
Fisheries management governance practice. The objective of this study is to investigate the present status, future potentials for the
Bangladesh
development of a framework of the EAFM for the sustainable coastal and marine resource development of
Marine
Coastal
Bangladesh. Using both primary and secondary sources of information, this study has found that some levels of
EAFM are already in practice to some extent in some specific coastal river ecosystems along the hilsa (Tenualosa
ilisha) sanctuaries for the protection of juvenile and brood hilsa, but often not implemented and managed in an
appropriate planned and objective way. There are some signs of ecosystem well-being for a few fisheries but
some levels of deterioration of the ecosystem have been noticed as well. It is unclear how this ecosystem well-
being in one hand and its continued interruption and deterioration in another hand interact and affect human
well-being for making a resilient society in the fishing communities. The EAFM has great potential to improve
both the ecosystem and human well-being in the coming years as well as to contribute to the blue economy and
achieve some SDG targets. However, how the ecosystem’s well-being will be translated into social well-being will
depend on the efficiency of governance, particularly maintaining inclusiveness and equitable benefit sharing
among resource users.

1. Introduction
To meet the food and nutritional demand of the increased population
the fishing intensity has been increased with time leading to the collapse
of some of the fisheries around the oceans. Traditionally the fisheries
management emphasises on single species management system which
can be quite successful (Quinn and Collie, 2005). However, in this type
of management system, important ecosystem considerations are often
ignored such as species interactions, bycatch, changes in ecosystem
structure, and gear impacts on habitat (Link, 2014). To address these
issues, ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) has been
developed in the 1990s which is a practical way to implement sustain­
able development for the management of fisheries which tends to bal­
ance ecological benefit and human well-being through good governance
of open water resources (Pomeroy et al., 2013). It has the potential to
protect the stock from significant reduction by offering an integrated
and holistic approach, moving away from only single or target species.
Sustainable development of coastal and marine areas has three
components – economic, social and environmental. EAFM is believed to
have the potential to contribute in all three components because this
fisheries management system necessarily includes conserving biodiver­
sity, enhancing ecosystem services, and addressing the community
resilience where resource use benefits are shared equitably and resource
management is participatory and gender-sensitive.
There are two important issues to recognise to work for the EAFM: 1)
the actions and processes occur at the lower trophic levels have inevi­
table consequences at the higher trophic levels as the oceans are a
complex adaptive system and 2) humans are an integral part of these

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: monirul.islam@du.ac.bd (Md.M. Islam), m.nahiduzzaman@cgiar.org (Md. Nahiduzzaman), reneacosta95@gmail.com (R. Acosta), masudara_
momi@yahoo.co.uk (M.A. Mome), a.wahab@cgiar.org (Md.A. Wahab).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106068
Received 9 August 2021; Received in revised form 19 December 2021; Accepted 25 January 2022
Available online 2 February 2022
0964-5691/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Md.M. Islam et al.
complex systems as their choices and actions can lead to transformations
in ecosystem functioning (Curtin and Prellezo, 2010). The EAFM has
been supported by a range of global declarations and policy instruments
such as the United Nations General Assembly (2012), United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) (2012), World
Conservation Congress (2012), World Summit on Sustainable Develop­
ment (2002), and Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries in
Marine Ecosystems (2001). The EAFM was adopted by the FAO in early
2003. In many parts of the world EAFM (or different names) framework
and guidelines have been prepared and being implemented such as in
Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon
Islands, Timor-Leste and USA (Pomeroy et al., 2015; Trochta et al.,
2018).
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 – Life Below Water –
has a target to conserve at least 10% of the coastal and marine areas by
2020. Percentage of waters under EAFM is an indicator to meet this
target. Thus, EAFM is an integral part of the SDG because the main
purpose of EAFM is to manage fisheries in a manner that addresses the
multiple needs and desires of societies, without compromising the
ability of the future generations to meet their own needs from the goods
and services provided by marine ecosystems (FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations), 2011; Garcia, 2003).
However, developing the plan and implementing this holistic and
complex EAFM has been slow, there has been progress nonetheless (Link
and Browman, 2017). There are also other economic, social and
governance challenges that are often context-specific. Overcoming them
would require learning from each other and the deliberate will to move
forward as well as to put resources on this.
In some of the Bay of Bengal regions, the EAFM framework has been
developed and started implementation. Countries like Malaysia,
Indonesia, and the Philippines have already developed the EAFM
framework and they have some processes in implementation such as
forming EAFM committees, engaging stakeholders, developing opera­
tional indicators, etc. (DoF (Department of Fisheries Malaysia), 2014;
Link and Browman, 2017; Österblom et al., 2017; Pomeroy et al., 2015).
In this region, some EAFM related tools have already been developed
and implemented such as marine protected areas (MPAs) (Pomeroy
et al., 2015). In the Coral Triangle region applying an EAFM is consid­
ered the preferred option and best practice for the long-term sustain­
ability of fisheries and human well-being (e.g., food security,
livelihoods, economic security, coastal protection, human health, and
well-being) (Pomeroy et al., 2015).
The coastal and marine fisheries of Bangladesh is believed to have
been contributing to the enhanced amount of fish catch leading to an
increased fish consumption for the Bangladeshis as well as export
earnings. However, how fisheries resources development is socially and
environmentally sustainable is not clear. In Bangladesh currently, no
EAFM framework exists despite the presence of some related processes
and tools such as protected areas in marine and coastal areas (IUCN,
2015). Very recently a USAID funded project known as ECOFISH has
primarily introduced some activities similar to EAFM through estab­
lishing model resilient villages in three districts, Bhola, Chandpur and
Shariatpur, where efforts have been made to address the ecosystem
wellbeing of the rivers through community surveillance during fishing
ban periods, social wellbeing through livelihood supports and women
empowerment, and good governance at local levels through
co-management. The outcomes and impacts of these are yet to be
assessed systematically. A range of legal and policy documents exist in
this country that can be used, in some cases with some revisions, to
develop and implement the EAFM (see section 3.2.2 for more review on
legal and policy framework for EAFM in Bangladesh). Thus the overall
objective of this study is to explore the current status and future po­
tential of the EAFM for Bangladesh by reviewing legislative and policy
documents and developing a framework.
2
Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068
2. Materials and methods
This study reviews the literature, framework, and legal and policy
documents related to the EAFM. Especially this study relies on existing
EAFM and related framework developed by the United Nation’s Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and in other countries as well as the
Bangladesh coastal and marine fisheries management and policy docu­
ments. An EAFM framework has been developed in this study (see sec­
tion 3.3) which adopted examples from a 5-day Workshop on ‘Training
of Trainers on EAFM (ToT EAFM)’ organised by USAID ECOFISH project
in 2018 implemented by WorldFish Bangladesh and South Asia in
partnership with the Bangladesh Department of Fisheries (DoF) of the
Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL). This United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) supported training objective
was to create a pool of EAFM trainers for Bangladesh from mid-level
government officers together with NGOs, researchers and academics.
Two EAFM experts from the Philippines led the workshop and at the end
of the workshop, the participants produced three EAFM management
plans. This study took advantage of the outputs of the workshop. A total
of 42 participants participated in the workshop who divided into 6
groups with a group leader for each group. The participants were pro­
fessionals and experts in the fields and include Government’s fisheries
officers, researchers and NGO personnel. During the preparation of the
EAFM plans all the participants actively participated and there were
several outputs before preparing the final EAFM flans. At each stages
each group presented and discussed their outputs and the processes
which were recorded and later transcribed. At the end of the workshop
the six group leaders from ToT’s participants were further interviewed
on some specific EAFM issues. In addition to explore the status of EAFM
principles, priority for EAFM action and stakeholder analysis key
informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were
conducted in 2018. The interviews participants (15) were both gov­
ernment officials and local level stakeholders around the coastal areas of
Bangladesh. The interviewees included the Upazila (Sub-district) Fish­
eries Officers and Upazila Nirbahi (Executive) Officers of Bhola Sadar &
Monpura of Bhola district and of Rangabali & Kalapara of Patukhali
district. Other KIIs included fishers’ association leaders, local commu­
nity leaders, boat owners, boat captains and enthusiastic fishers. The
FGDs (4) were conducted with the lower Meghna estuary dependent
fishers. In each FGD 8–10 fishers participated all of whom were male (as
no female fishers were found there) and aged between 20 and 49 years.
A list of topics and possible questions for the respondents were devel­
oped before the start of the discussion to ensure some structure and
direction in the discussions. Overall the sessions ran ensuring that the
focus is kept, momentum is maintained and that there are real partici­
pation and closure on questions.
3. Results
3.1. Unpacking EAFM
This section is based on the literature reviews and the authors’ own
synthesis and unpacks and explains the concept of EAFM.
EAFM strives to balance diverse societal objectives or needs by tak­
ing into account the knowledge and uncertainties about biotic, abiotic,
and human components of ecosystems and their interaction, and
applying in an integrated approach, fisheries management within
ecologically meaningful boundaries (Garcia, 2003). It is a fisheries
management approach where ecosystem/ecological well-being is one of
the key components. It however equally emphasises human well-being
be harnessed from the sustainable exploitation of ecosystem services.
It aims to achieve these win-win situations through better governance at
different scales. The ecological well-being here refers to the optimum
aquatic conditions (e.g. pH, dissolved oxygen, nutrients etc.) where the
animals and plants can interact in a natural way (e.g. maintain trophic
structures and functions) without having any considerable disturbances
Md.M. Islam et al.
at any spatial or temporal scales. This aquatic system can provide the
maximum ecosystem services including provisioning, regulating, cul­
tural, and supporting services that can provide human well-being.
Human well-being refers to improved livelihoods, food security,
health, safety, incomes, education, resilience and adaptation to vulner­
ability and other capabilities and assets. Human well-being is, however,
context- and situation-dependent, reflecting social and personal factors
such as geography, ecology, age, gender, and culture (Butler et al.,
2003). To enhance human well-being sustainable human interaction
with ecosystems is necessary. For the poor and vulnerable people, the
maximum well-being will occur through more equitable and secure
access to ecosystem services with the support of appropriate in­
struments, institutions, organizations, and technology (Butleret al.,
2003). The main intention is to strike a balance between ecological and
human well-being in the utilization of the fisheries resources through
good governance (threat analysis in the context of Bangladesh fisheries
management has been given later in section 3.3.4).
The main challenge for a tropical multi-species, multi-gear gear
fisheries, as well as multiple, uses riverine ecosystem of Bangladesh, is
how this integrated approach can be applied to ecologically meaningful
boundaries to the extent possible that the governance (co-management
and functioning of co-management committees in the case of the
riverine ecosystem of Bangladesh) become compatible with the defined
ecosystem scale and in the process, will become effective, becomes
institutionalized and sustained.
EAFM, as an approach, is not new to us in tropical countries.
Instinctively, from the fisheries use perspective, that has already been
our approach in this region from the very beginning since we have to
provide management response to the issues brought about by our multi-
species and multi-gear fisheries that are typical in the use of our aquatic
ecosystems and the exploitation of our fisheries. To address the man­
agement response, the EAFM has seven principles: Good Governance,
Appropriate Scale, Increased Participation, Multiple Objectives, Coop­
eration and Coordination, Adaptive Management and Precautionary
Approach. However, EAFM principles are not isolated from each other
and in most cases, they affect each other or one principle can become a
prerequisite of the other.
There is also a range of related approaches, tools or techniques of
fisheries management such as ecosystem-based fisheries management
(EBFM) or ecosystem-based management (EBM), integrated coastal zone
management (ICZM), community-based fisheries management (CBFM),
co-management, MPA, marine spatial planning (MSP) and Blue
Economy.
Both the concepts EBFM/EBM and EAFM are very similar and are
often used interchangeably in academic works. EBM considers a wider
range of ecological, environmental and human factors in the exploita­
tion of resources and broadens the scope of traditional resource man­
agement (Murawski, 2007). A more in-depth and inclusive definition of
EBM was developed by the Communications Partnership for Science and
the Sea (Communications Partnership for Science and the Sea (COM­
PASS, 2005) as “an integrated approach to management that considers
the entire ecosystem, including humans. The goal of EBM is to maintain
an ecosystem in a healthy, productive and resilient condition so that it
can provide the services humans want and need. EBM differs from
current approaches that usually focus on a single species, sector or ac­
tivity or concern; it considers the cumulative impacts of different
sectors”.
MPA is a spatial management tool that has a clearly defined area to
achieve conservation of nature and has associated ecosystem services
and cultural values. It includes fish sanctuaries or refuge. It is an
important tool for EAFM. MSP is used for marine spatial planning that
sets user access based on the temporal and spatial distribution of human
activities. It is also an important tool for EAFM (zoning). Co-
management and CBFM are human focussed management tools that
are used to design and implement the EAFM and its action plans.
To shift from conventional fisheries management to an EAFM
3
Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068
requires consideration of a number of important issues and challenges.
While developing EAFM for the Coral Triangle Initiative, Pomeroy et al.
(2013) suggested that EAFM has an expanded scope over the conven­
tional approach. EAFM will involve broader: (a) scale; (b) participation;
(c) institutional coordination and cooperation; and (d) knowledge, sci­
ence, and information. Moving towards EAFM require consideration of
the structure and framework surrounding EAFM, including (e) policy
and legal instruments; (f) costs, sustainable financing, and prioritisation;
and (g) capacity building and development, underpinning all of which is
the need for (h) good governance (Pomeroy et al., 2013).
3.2. EAFM in Bangladesh
In this section, first a brief overview of Bangladesh fisheries has been
given using the data and information from Bangladesh government
statistics and relevant literature. Then the laws, policies and jurisdiction
related to EAFM in Bangladesh have been described using both sec­
ondary literature, policy and legal documents, and primary interviews
and FGDs data. This section also provides the potential contribution of
EAFM to Bangladesh which is mainly based on the authors’ own opin­
ions based on the outcomes of EAFM from other international contexts.
3.2.1. Overview of Bangladesh fisheries
Bangladesh produces 4.13 million metric tons of fish and shellfish
each year where open water capture fisheries contributes 44% (28%
inland open water and 15% marine) (Department of Fisheries 2018). It
contributes significantly to nutrition (e.g., provides 60% of all animal
protein), employment and the economy (3.69% of GDP and 2.01% of
export earnings) (Department of Fisheries, 2015). A total of about 18
million people including about 1.4 million women depend on this sector
directly or indirectly through fishing, farming, fish handling, processing
and marketing (Department of Fisheries, 2018). Bangladesh has diverse
aquatic habitats with 118,813 km2 marine, the world’s largest flooded
wetland, hundreds of rivers, depressions, oxbow lakes, numerous ponds
and 4,760,894 ha inland water areas (DoF Department of Fisheries,
2018).
Bangladesh is rich in aquatic biodiversity with 486–495 marine fish
species and 250–260 freshwater fish species (Rahman, 2005; Siddiqui
et al., 2007). Some (62) freshwater species are also found in estuaries
(Rahman, 2005; Siddiqui et al., 2007). In addition to these fish species, a
total of 20 species of prawns, 4 species of crabs, and 26 species of
molluscs are also found in the freshwaters of Bangladesh (Siddiqui et al.,
2008a; 2008b). Of the total freshwater fish species, 104 are considered
riverine species, 36 are migratory (travelling rivers and floodplains) and
the rest 113 are floodplain resident species (Flood Action Plan 17, 1995).
3.2.2. Laws, policies and jurisdiction related to EAFM in Bangladesh
The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock is the legal authority to
manage the fisheries through its Department of Fisheries together with
the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) and Bangladesh
Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC). A few agencies from other
ministries also contribute to fisheries management such as the Ministry
of Land, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Planning, Local Gov­
ernment and Engineering Department, Ministry of Disaster Management
and Relief, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard. Donors, NGOs and the private sector
play a vital role in the entire management system especially for law
enforcement and community-based management.
For the fisheries sector, historically Bangladesh’s focus was mainly
on increasing fish production either through improved culture or
increased catch. As Bangladesh is now self-sufficient in fish production
(estimated fish consumption 63 gm/capita/year according to (Depart­
ment of Fisheries, 2018) it now focusing on conserving and sustainably
managing the fisheries.
At the global level, some treaties exist to support the EAFM such as
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),
Md.M. Islam et al. Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and CCRF (Code of Conduct Table 2

for Responsible Fisheries). CBD explicitly adopts the EAFM but the EAFM related laws and policy in Bangladesh.
UNCLOS and the CCRF do not. The FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) Laws/Policies Main features EAFM features Policy gaps
has adopted the EAFM as an appropriate and practical way to fully
Protection and Management • Overall fisheries • No mention of
implement the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Being part of Conservation and conservation management and how users’ rights
this global treaty Bangladesh has the obligation to implement the EAFM. of Fish Act, of fisheries conservation and welling will
The FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale 1950 resources as a • Clauses related to be ensured
Fisheries has particularly emphasised on welling of small-scale fish­ whole. good governance • No mention of
precautionary
eries-dependent people which is one of the key components of EAFM approach
(Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2015). Marine Fisheries Marine fisheries • Government may • No mention of
Many principles of EAFM are related to the CCRF, part of which is Ordinance, conservation and declare any area how users’ rights
further based on UNCLOS developed in 1982. Bangladesh has partially 1983; Marine management of fisheries and welling will
Fisheries waters with any be ensured
been addressing those principles for coastal fisheries management tar­
Rules, 1983 adjacent or
geting hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) as a nucleus since adopting Hilsa Fisheries surrounding
Management Action Plan (HFMAP) in 2003. Hilsa represents 11% of land, to be a
total fish production is amongst the most important species that is a marine reserve
heavily traded commodity in Bangladesh (DoF (Department of Fisheries, • Enforcement of
laws mainly to
2018). Therefore, the Government of Bangladesh’s (GoB) management prohibit illegal
principles are based on the species and has been engaging several actors fishing and vessel
to revive and sustain the hilsa production. Consequently, the GoB has use
undertaken the initiative e.g. the Enhanced Coastal Fisheries (USAID Bangladesh Conservation, • Detailed policy • No specific
Fisheries management, for all the sub- mention of
ECOFISH) activity in partnership with USAID and the WorldFish keep­
Policy, 1998 exploitation, sectors of fish­ EAFM
ing the ecosystem approach in mind to improve the resilience of the marketing, eries including • Intends to
Meghna River ecosystem and communities reliant on coastal fisheries. quality control exploitation, improve the
In the Bangladesh context, there are strengthens and weaknesses in and conservation and socio-economic
relation to its conformity to the EAFM principles, to be able to refine the institutional management of conditions of
development marine fisheries fishers but inad­
focus of the area of interventions for mainstreaming the EAFM for
resources. equate strategies
fisheries management (Table 1). or tools on this
In Bangladesh currently, there is no direct law or policy for EAFM. • Many policies
However, there are a few legislations that have clauses that support the are not
implemented yet
principles and management actions related to EAFM (Table 2). These
Wildlife Conservation of • Specific focus on • Co-management
include the Protection and Conservation of Fish Act, 1950, Marine (Preservation wildlife of both conservation, e.g. committee may
Fisheries Ordinances 1983, The Wildlife (Preservation and Security) Act, and Security) plants and declaration and require
2012 and Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995. For Act, 2012 animals management of involvement of
example, although Marine Fisheries Ordinance (1983) does not directly protected areas forest
• Co-management department,
incorporate the provisions for EAFM or MPA, it has clauses for pro­
system is amongst others
tecting marine habitats and resources. An amendment of this ordinance specifically
can add the specific concept of EAFM or its tools. mentioned
The Wildlife (Preservation and Security) Act, 2012 has empowered Bangladesh Maintain good • Focus specifically
Environment environmental on
the government to declare any area as sanctuary, community conser­
Conservation condition environmental
vation area, safari park, eco-park, botanical garden, wildlife Act, 1995; improvement, e.
Environment g. by controlling
Conservation pollution
Table 1 Rules, 1997; • Good for aquatic
EAFM principles, their current status and priority for action in Bangladesh. habitat
improvement
Source: (Key informant interviews and focus group discussions).
Principles of EAFM Current State of Application Priority for
Actiona reproduction centre, landscape zone, buffer zone, core zone in relation
Governance Existing, through co-management 2 to wildlife and plant preservation, protection and their smooth growth.
committees at various jurisdiction levels in There is a clause to declare an area as MPA under this Act in Chapter 4,
some USAID ECOFISH project areas Section 13(2) Subsection 1. This Act can support the implementation of
Appropriate scale Not yet clearly defined 1
Increased Being pursued under some projects (e.g. 3
EAFM.
participation USAID ECOFISH), through Hilsa
Conservation Group, Community savings 3.2.3. Potential contribution of EAFM to Bangladesh
group, Hilsa Ghat Groups and The current fisheries management focuses largely on increasing total
representation in the co-management
fish production and less on the sustainability of the system. Conse­
committees
Multiple objectives Already considered and usually instinctive, 6 quently, fish production is confined to only a few species. The EAFM has
but very dependent on increased the potential to contribute to ecosystem well-being without decreasing
participation. the amount of fish production, for instance by facilitating healthy
Cooperation and Being pursued, through co-management 4 aquatic habitats and improved biodiversity. Such an environment can in
coordination committees and conservation groups
Adaptive Being pursued, already part of the system 7
fact facilitate the production of more fish which in turn can increase food
management security and reduce poverty. More fish can bring increased foreign ex­
Precautionary Being adhered to, but still needs 5 change and trade from fish and fishery products. An improved
approach improvement ecosystem can also act as coastal protection during disasters.
a
The priority scores range from 1 to 7 with 1 means highest and 7 means The fisheries sector of Bangladesh is also contributing significantly to
lowest priority. the gross economy of the country. However, its contribution to social

4
Md.M. Islam et al.
sustainability is below the expected level. The EAFM has the potential to
contribute to human well-being. For example, the management objec­
tive and plan developed in section 3.3.4, i.e. ensuring equitable and
inclusive benefit-sharing from fisheries resources – will save the fishers
from getting deprived by middlemen and increase their incomes.
Currently, co-management is practised only on a few occasions in
coastal and marine areas of the country. Co-management is one of the
main focuses of EAFM which will not only help manage fisheries better
but also will empower the ordinary coastal resources users (e.g. poor
fishers) through stakeholder engagement, facilitation, negotiation and
conflict resolution.
To design, implement and monitor the EAFM an improved gover­
nance system will be developed which has the potential for replicating
the governance of other sectors of the country. The staff who will be
engaged with the EAFM process will be smarter and people-centric as
well as care for the environment. Such staff will play a role to enhance
human rights, democracy and sustainability in the country.
The EAFM has the components which can help us achieve the SDG
targets related to conservation and sustainable use of marine areas. It
can also contribute to harnessing the potential of the blue economy by
ensuring sustainable, inclusive and equitable management of marine
resources.
Taken together, applying an EAFM could be the best practice for the
long-term sustainability of the openwater fisheries and human well-
being of Bangladesh including food security, sustainable livelihoods,
economic security, coastal protection, human health and well-being.
3.3. EAFM framework for Bangladesh
This section describes the preparation, design, plan and imple­
mentation of EAFM for Bangladesh. The original structure of the EAFM
framework has been adapted from other literature but all the steps and
components are adapted to Bangladesh fisheries, socio-economic,
coastal & marine environment and governance contexts using primary
data from the workshop, interviews and FGDs.
The proposed EAFM framework is built on the related existing
Fig. 1. The 5 steps of EAFM (Source: Staples et al., 2014).
5
Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068
framework such as ‘National MPA framework formulated by IUCN
through the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem Project (BOBLME)’.
The USAID ECOFISH co-management approach currently implemented
also has contributed here. Primary data obtained from the stakeholders
and the ToT EAFM workshop outputs have also been included. This
workshop was originally developed based on an FAO publication by
Staples et al., 2014.
There are a start-up and five main steps of EAFM framework (Fig. 1)
as applied and adopted in the FAO document by Staples et al. (2014).
The start-up is for preparing the ground and engaging the stakeholders.
The five steps include – Define and scope the Fisheries Management Unit
(FMU); Identify and prioritize issues and goals; Develop the EAFM plan;
Implement the plan; and Monitor, evaluate adapt. These steps are fitted
into the Bangladesh contexts and learned from other contexts where
EAFM has been implemented. These along with the start-up are
explained below:
3.3.1. Start-up
Before the main steps, some start-up activities need to be done for
preparing the ground and engaging the stakeholders.
3.3.1.1. Prepare the grounds. For preparing the ground a few tasks to be
conducted as outlined below:
3.3.1.1.1. Identifying EAFM team and facilitators. The EAFM team
and facilitators need to be identified at the very beginning. The DoF
should be the promoting and lead agency for EAFM and establish a team
to guide the EAFM planning process. The team should consist of, but not
limited to, representatives from government fisheries, environment,
conservation, economics, human development/social science agencies,
task experts (e.g. for community organizing, facilitation, conflict man­
agement etc.) and representatives from the unit where EAFM will be
implemented. A team leader would lead the planning process ensuring
fair, transparent and equal participation from all stakeholders groups.
3.3.1.1.2. Determine legal basis for EAFM. Legislative or policy
mandate to carry out EAFM is necessary and this should be done at the
very beginning by the EAFM team and facilitators. A detailed review of
Md.M. Islam et al.
EAFM related laws, policy and jurisdictions has been given in section
3.2.2. It finds that many of the actions related to the principles of EAFM
could be implemented under the existing fisheries and environmental
legislation and policy. For example, MPA has already been introduced
and co-management of fisheries resources already going on under the
USAID ECOFISH project.
3.3.1.1.3. Developing start-up work plan. During this preparation
phase, a start-up work plan needs to be prepared. This will include a set
of planning activities such as the sequence of activities and the indi­
vidual responsibilities for each activity. This work plan should be as
precise as possible clearly indicating the role of each actor, timeframe,
amount of funds for each activity, and how coordination will be done
from top (DoF head office to Upazila and EAFM unit level). The DoF will
be the primary owner of the work plan.
3.3.1.1.4. Identify broad Fisheries Management Unit (FMU) area.
Fisheries Management Unit (FMU) is an area to be managed under the
EAFM. It is important to identify the boundaries of the area. The FMU
can overlap with the existing managed area such as MPAs. Ideally, the
FMU should be selected based on ecologically, socially, or politically
determined jurisdictional boundaries. The area can be large or small
depending on the type of ecosystem and scope of jurisdiction. Who will
govern the EAFM will depend on the size of the FMU. Since the Upazila
(sub-district) is the lowest level of fisheries governance unit in
Bangladesh (known as Upazilla Fisheries Office), the most feasible local
governance or basic management unit will be at this level, followed by
district level governance unit (called District Fisheries Office). For a very
large FMU, divisional or central level DoF should govern directly. See
5.1.1.f below for coordination among the EAFM team.
3.3.1.1.5. EAFM introduction. After selecting the FMU, the EAFM
team needs to introduce their plans and processes to all the key stake­
holders (see 5.1.1.g below) for raising awareness and establishing the
initial working relationship among the stakeholders and team. This can
be done in a number of ways such as rapport building with prospective
partners, formally introducing EAFM to prospective partners, organizing
and attending meetings, training, and awareness-raising sessions with
the community, local leaders, government officials, and using social and
Fig. 2. Examples of stakeholder groups in the context of an EAFM in Bangladesh.
6
Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068
other media to create awareness.
3.3.1.1.6. Coordinate with other ministries/agencies and government
levels. Coordination at each level is a key step to harmonizing policies
and operational objectives across different levels of governance. A single
FMU could already be managed under different agencies and jurisdic­
tions and implementing EAFM would require more coordination here.
At the early stage, the relevant institutions (from Upazila, district,
divisional, national, to regional) are informed and engaged.
3.3.1.1.7. Identify stakeholders and organizations. A stakeholder is
any individual (male or female), group or organization which has an
interest in or which can affect or is affected, positively or negatively, by
the EAFM process (Staples et al., 2014). A number of potential stake­
holders are needed to effectively implement an EAFM. Fig. 2 shows
examples of potential stakeholder groups in the context of Bangladesh.
DoF will have to conduct FMU delineation for the whole of Bangladesh
via EBM MSP or zonation exercise to include coastal zone i.e. mangrove
areas and coral reefs. Under the USAID ECOFISH project, a stakeholder
analysis of the lower Meghna estuary was conducted and presented in
Fig. 3.
3.3.2. Engage stakeholders
Engaging stakeholders is at the heart of an EAFM. It is not a step
rather a continuous process throughout the EAFM process, i.e. constant
and permeating in every step. The project team needs to learn at the
EAFM progresses. It will also build institutional knowledge of other
stakeholders, participating partners and agencies. A number of stake­
holder engagement activities can be done some of which are outlined
below:
3.3.2.1. Assess stakeholder interest, awareness and commitment. Open
water resource-dependent communities are the main stakeholder of the
EAFM and their interest and commitment are the keys to having a suc­
cessful EAFM. In order to assess their interest and commitment, after the
initial trigger, the project team should endeavour to investigate the
three issues: Do the communities have awareness about the problems
with the aquatic environment and fisheries? Do they have concerns
Md.M. Islam et al.
Fig. 3. Stakeholder involvement analysis for the management of the lower Meghna estuarine fisheries (Source: Focus Group Discussions).
about these problems? Are they willing to take action to solve these
problems? Communities with greater awareness, concerns and willing­
ness to act will be in a position to better organise, plan, implement and
monitor the EAFM.
3.3.2.2. Community organizing. Co-management is at the heart of the
EAFM. In a community, there might have already different groups or co-
operative organizations present. However, they might not hold the
values, behaviour and institutions similar to the EAFM. That is why in
each community co-management group(s) need to be established. As in
some coastal areas of Bangladesh some co-management groups have
been formed under the USAID ECOFISH project, it has given an oppor­
tunity to learn from there. The preliminary results from this project are
promising to improve the ecosystem well-being through co-management
and improved enforcement of regulations during the brood and sanc­
tuary ban period (Nahiduzzaman et al., 2018). Compare to 2013, fish
production, average fish size and biodiversity have increased consider­
ably both in 2016 and 2017 (Nahiduzzaman et al., 2018). However, the
programme is not sure about other important issues such as equity,
inclusiveness, human rights, gainers and losers. Thus, more critical
evaluation is needed on different aspects and scales of co-management
in Bangladesh.
3.3.3. Define and scope the Fisheries Management Unit (FMU)
It is not often realistic to attempt to include the entire aquatic
ecosystem in EAFM, although current fisheries management is applied at
a very large (e.g. large marine ecosystem) to a very small scale (e.g. a
small estuary fishery). An FMU can include a species (e.g. hilsa fishery),
a gear type (e.g. trawl fishery), an area related to some known area e.g.
(south coast of Kuakata); a fishery adjacent to a named village or com­
munity (e.g. St. Martin’s Island’s fishery); or a combination of the above.
However, ideally, the chosen FMU should relate to whole ecological
boundaries and geographical range of the main stocks, although some­
times they may not coincide with political boundaries (Staples et al.,
2014). The FMU should also cover all the gears used there including
both legal and illegal or destructive and non-destructive. When EAFM
was first introduced a larger FMU was preferred but gradually a smaller
FMU has been considered for ease of management. This step should also
contain a vision of the FMU which should state what the FMU would
ideally look like in the future. For example, a vision of a coastal EAFM of
7
Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068
Bangladesh could be to ensure a healthy ecosystem that can provide
improved livelihoods and equitable benefit sharing of the stakeholders
through better governance. The entire zonation or FMU delineation
must be prepared by the DoF for the entirety of the Bangladesh
coastal-marine fisheries zones. A tabletop mapping exercise should be
conducted to 1) delineate biophysical ecosystems boundaries; 2) overlay
political jurisdiction boundaries; and 3) define FMU boundaries using a
combination of criteria on basis of political, social, economic and
ecological factors.
3.3.4. Identify and prioritize issues and goals
Threats and issues associated with the FMU need to be identified
covering all dimensions -economic, social, ecological, and governance
considerations. They can be identified during a meeting/workshop
involving all the relevant stakeholders. All the identified threats and
issues could not be addressed with equal emphasis and thus prioritisa­
tion is needed. This prioritisation could be done by conducting risk or
vulnerability assessment using quantitative or qualitative or mixed
methods. For example, a score based vulnerability matrix could be used
as developed by Daze et al. (2009). For the coastal fishery of Bangladesh
the following issues and threats could be identified (as produced by the
ToT EAFM):
• declined aquatic biodiversity,
• deforestation in adjacent land,
• aquatic habitat degradation,
• low income of fishers,
• vulnerable livelihoods of fishers,
• food insecurity of fishers and other local people,
• top-down approach of fisheries management and
• inequality in benefit-sharing from marine resources.
From the above, the first three are ecological well-being related, the
next three are human well-being related and the last two are
governance-related. Based on these issues and after prioritising them,
goals to be selected. The goals here could be:
• Conserve aquatic biodiversity and increase fish production
• Restore and maintain good aquatic habitat around the FMU
• Improve the livelihoods and food security of the stakeholders
Md.M. Islam et al. Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068

• Improve the governance in managing the aquatic ecosystem around
the FMU
Once the preliminary goals are set, reality check − 1 needs to be done
to explore the opportunities and constraints to achieve the goals.
3.3.5. Develop the EAFM plan
This step is divided into five sub-steps: developing management
objectives, developing indicators and benchmarks, agree management
actions, including financing mechanisms and finalising the EAFM plan.
Based on the vision, threats, issues and goals set in the above section
(3.3.4) the sub-steps of an EAFM plan could be outlined for a coastal
FMU as in Table 3. The management objectives need to be developed to
address the issues and treats identified earlier. For example, to address
the issue of declined aquatic biodiversity an objective should be to
ensure the availability of diverse species.
The indicators and benchmarks are used to assess whether the ob­
jectives are met. The indicators track the key outputs and outcomes
whereas the benchmarks help us to know how well the indicators are
performing (Pomeroy et al., 2013). A benchmark is usually a target or a
limit value or trend. For example, to ensure the availability of diverse
species in the FMU a standard biodiversity index (Shanon/Simpson) can
be used as an indicator and a certain percentage (e.g. 30%) of increase of
the diversity can be set as a benchmark.
To fulfil the objectives a number of measures can be taken collec­
tively called management actions. These actions can be technical or non-
technical. For example, Table 3 shows that to ensure the availability of
diverse species in the FMU a number of measures can be taken such as
permanent closures of certain areas or seasonal and spatial closures of
certain areas or fish habitat modification or a combination of these. The
EAFM plan must be written in the local language (Bengali) and non-
technical terms but could be translated into other languages if needed.
After preparing the draft EAFM plan it should be reviewed in consul­
tative meetings with stakeholders, validated, and finalized.
Although sources of funding and legislative basis should have
already been explored at the start-up stage, after deciding the action
plans the finance and legislative basis need to be revisited and revised if
necessary. At this stage, it will be possible to be more precise. Finance
may come from more than one source but the long term sustainability of
finance should be ensured as many EAFM actions are long-term

Table 3
EAFM plan for a coastal FMU of Bangladesh (Source: EAFM Workshop).
Develop management Develop indicators and benchmarks Management actions and Identify suitable financing Finalize the EAFM plan
objectives compliance

To ensure the availability of
threatened species
To ensure the availability of
diverse species
To reduce harmful human
intervention on the
ecosystem
To increase income of local
communities especially
fishers
To increase savings of the
community
To ensure women
empowerment
To improve education and
health of the local people
To ensure community
participation by co-
management
To ensure equitable and
inclusive benefit sharing
To ensure better
implementation of
regulations
- Increase the availability of - Gear modification Mainly Donors and Government. This should be done after
threatened species by 50% - Minimum size limits on Public-private partnership based checking the relevant
selected species funding should be explored. governance and other issues.
- Habitat modification
- Biodiversity index (Shanon/ - Permanent closures
Simpson) shows high biodiversity - Seasonal and spatial
- Upto 30% increase in fish diversity/ closures
production - Habitat modification
- Suitable water quality as defined in - Gear modification
the scientific literature - Seasonal and spatial
- 60–80% reduction of marine debris closures
- No take zones
- Stop illegal dredging
- Stop deforestation
- Increase 50% income from fisheries - Alternative income
and 20–30% from non-fisheries generating activities
sources of the households - Incentives
- Training
- Reduction of dependency on - Establish linkage with
informal high interest loan by 50% financial institutions
- Savings group formation
- Number and proportion of women - Training and motivation
are in co-management - Adult education
- Income generating
activities
- Sanitation for all the stakeholders - Primary and secondary
- 50% Reduction of average illness education
days - Awareness building
- 50% reduction of infant mortality programme
- 50% reduction of school dropout
- Number and proportion of local - Form co-management
community member participating association
the co-management - Training and awareness
buildup
- Real fishers getting at least 60% of - CBFM for boats and gear
the total fish selling money (which is - Use of fishers ID card for
currently 30%) benefit sharing
- All eligible fishers and stakeholders
are included in the EAFM; no one is
left behind
- Reduced cases of illegal fishing - Awareness programme
- 50% less cases of punishment due to - Logistic support
illegal fishing - More manpower
- Coordination and
cooperation among multi-
organizations
- Engage community fish
guards

8
Md.M. Islam et al.
processes.
3.3.6. Implement the plan
The implementation plan should have a number of sub-steps such as
formalize, communicate and engage; governance check; co-
management; and conflict management through an assessment of po­
tential conflicts and applying different approaches to addressing the
conflicts. Involvement of key stakeholders, participatory, transparent
and accountable implementation procedures need to be followed.
3.3.7. Monitor, evaluate and adapt
The indicators and their benchmarks developed in section 3.3.4
should provide a snapshot of how well EAFM is performing, i.e. moni­
toring the performance of management actions. Based on this the EAFM
needs to be evaluated and a plan should be adapted. Monitoring and
adaptation need to be done both at the FMU and national levels with
indicators aligned at both levels. As many of the actions of EAFM require
long-term activities, learning from mistakes and adopting adaptive
management is necessary.
4. Discussion
This study has investigated the present status and future potential of
EAFM in Bangladesh and developed a framework to design, plan and
implement the EAFM. This study has found that currently, formally no
EAFM exists in the country despite the fact that a number of measures
going on which are directly related to the principles of EAFM. These
measures include MPA in the Swatch of No Ground, spatial and temporal
fishing bans, gear and mesh size restrictions, introduction of co-
management in some areas etc. Currently, there is no direct legislation
or policy available to support the EAFM in the country. However, there
are a number of such documents available that support the principles
and management actions of EAFM (see section 3.3.5 for some possible
management actions). Thus, it seems that to apply EAFM in the country
no new law or policy would be needed; only a minor modification may
be needed at the planning or implementation stages.
The EAFM framework developed in this study is built on the existing
framework developed earlier by the FAO (written by Staples et al., 2014)
and others (e.g. Pomeroy et al., 2013) but the structure was a little
modified to fit into the Bangladesh contexts. This framework has used
extensive examples from Bangladesh focusing on the coastal and marine
fisheries. It has five core steps including start-up activities, defining
FMU, developing EAFM plan, implementing the plan and monitoring,
evaluating and adapting. Although these are the generic steps like other
studies, for Bangladesh many new issues arose while developing these
steps. The adoption of the EAFM approach has given an opportunity for
Bangladesh to meet part of the SDG 14 (Life Below Water) targets such as
sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid
significant adverse impacts; effectively regulate harvesting and end
overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive
fishing practices; conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine
areas; and provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine re­
sources and markets.
The EAFM should be implemented on a pilot basis now in a small
FMU in order to learn as we are not still fully sure how some of the steps
of EAFM will work. For example, how good governance will be ensured
in the EAFM or how all the stakeholders’ participation will be ensured.
EAFM is a relatively new approach and has only just been implemented
in some countries such as Malaysia, The Philippines, Coral Triangle
countries etc. and their processes are still evolving. However, theoretical
best practices for EAFM can vary greatly in different countries because
of the wide range of fishery characteristics, including different goals of
fisheries management across regions and species (Trochta et al., 2018).
There are some challenges to implement the EAFM. Garcia et al. (2005)
have identified the ways of overcoming these challenges by different
stakeholder groups such as policymakers, researchers and industry
9
Ocean and Coastal Management 219 (2022) 106068
Table 4
Ways of overcoming the challenges for implementing the EAFM (adapted from
Garcia et al., 2005).
Stakeholder Ways of overcoming the EAFM challenges
group
Policy-makers • Improve the image of fisheries governance
• Identify the main operational objectives
• Allocate resources through appropriate systems of rights
Identify the proper set of stakeholders and resolve the thorny
•
issue of exclusion in an equitable manner
• Maintain capture fisheries production while reducing
environmental impact
• Lobby to reduce coastal pollution and degradation
Researchers • Identify effective and feasible measures
Advise on boundaries that make both ecological and
•
institutional sense
• Identify a parsimonious set of ecosystem indicators and
associated reference values
• Credibly assess ecological risks
Develop rehabilitation strategies
•
• Elaborate affordable transition pathways
• Integrate social sciences
Industry • Actively change the image of the profession
• Face the challenge of capacity reduction
• Adopt more environment-friendly gear and practices
• Lobby for fishing rights
(Table 4) (Garcia et al., 2005). For the Bangladesh context not having
enough information on a few issues should not delay the start of the
FAFM because EAFM itself has a principle to deal with such situations by
adopting the precautionary approach. This country already has good
legislative and policy support (may need little revisions), economy and
fisheries and aquatic resources management systems which are enough
to start the FAEM now, at least on a pilot scale. Bangladesh government
officials from the DoF and researchers should now start the piloting
process. The current World Bank’s Bangladesh Sustainable Coastal and
Marine Fisheries project can be a good source of funds to support the
piloting of this process and the EAFM team should learn from the
countries or regions where EAFM has already been implemented.
5. Conclusions
With the rising number of the human population, the demand for fish
has increased several folds and has pushed intensified fishing from
shores to deep ocean waters. This, in turn, has resulted in overfishing
and the collapse of some of the important fisheries around the globe.
Degradation of aquatic environment quality due to development pres­
sure and other human activities has further worsened the situation.
EAFM is a fisheries management system that aims to achieve aquatic
ecosystem well-being (e.g. good habitats, abundant and diverse fishes
etc.) and human well-being (e.g. improved income, equity in benefit
from fisheries, improved food security etc.) through good governance.
Despite its potential, it has not been formally applied in Bangladesh but
has been implemented in some countries or regions which have found
substantial positive impacts. This study is the first of its kind to inves­
tigate the present status and future potential of the EAFM in Bangladesh
and develop a framework to design, plan and implement the EAFM. The
original structure of the EAFM framework has been adapted from FAO
(Staples et al., 2014) but all the steps and components are adapted to
Bangladesh fisheries, socio-economic, coastal & marine environment
and governance contexts using primary data from the workshop, in­
terviews and FGDs.
This study has found that although currently, formally no EAFM
exists in the country even though some measures going on which are
directly related to the principles of EAFM. Currently, there is no direct
legislation or policy available to support the EAFM in the country.
However, there are some such documents available that support the
principles and management actions related to EAFM. The EAFM related
Md.M. Islam et al.
measures currently implemented in the country include MPA in the
Swatch of No Ground, spatial and temporal fishing bans, gear and mesh
size restrictions, the introduction of co-management in some areas under
the USAID ECOFISH project etc. Amongst many fisheries management
systems, hilsa is the key species – the largest contributor of GDP, pro­
duction and employment among the whole fisheries and aquaculture
sector of the country. To manage this flagship species both sanctuary
fishing ban (in some areas for 2–3 months) and brood fishing ban
(during peak breeding season for 3 weeks) are posed. Although the bans
are imposed in the name of hilsa all kinds of fishing are banned during
this period by involving both a range of fisheries and non-fisheries
agencies through a well-coordinated way going beyond individual
jurisdiction. Thus hilsa fishery management support multi-species,
multi-scales and improved governance principles of the EAFM.
An EAFM framework has been developed in this study which should
be implemented using in-country resources and external supports if
needed. At first, piloting should be done in a small area to standardise
the process of EAFM. The World Bank’s current project on Bangladesh
Sustainable Coastal and Marine Fisheries should fund this pilot project.
Adopting the EAFM in Bangladesh would be an opportunity to partly
achieve the targets of the SDG -14 and harness the potential of the blue
economy. Both SDG-14 and blue economy have emphasised sustainable
exploitation of marine resources by ensuring a healthy and productive
marine ecosystem. Especially the blue economy needs to be developed in
sustainable, inclusive and equitable ways which are amongst the main
principles of EAFM.
As EAFM is a long-term process, future issues related to economic,
social and environmental need to consider for its adaptive management.
Bangladesh aims to become a middle-income country by 2021 and a
higher income country by 2041. Meanwhile, the total population of
Bangladesh is projected to be more than 200 million (BBS (Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics), 2015). These will create more development pres­
sure particularly from more industrialisation, land-use change and
aquatic habitat degradation. Environmental condition particularly
water pollution, global warming, ocean acidification, sea-level rise and
land erosion will be amongst the serious concerns.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was undertaken as a part of the CGIAR Research Program
on Fish Agri-Food Systems (FISH). The authors acknowledge the finan­
cial support provided by United States Agency for International Devel­
opment (USAID) through the Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh
(ECOFISH) project, jointly implemented by the WorldFish and Depart­
ment of Fisheries (DoF), Government of Bangladesh. We are also grateful
to the participants of the ToT EAFM workshop, interviews and FGD
participants for their inputs. The authors also would like to thank the
reviewers’ and editor for their comments which were helpful to further
improve the manuscript.
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