This
special contains five reports on fishing issues:
The Food Of Love - England, A Cagey Concern - Bangladesh,
Fishy Business - Mozambique, A Long Haul - Indonesia,
and Kelp! - Ireland
The
Food Of Love - England
There are two species of oyster marketed in the United
Kingdom and throughout Europe - the native flat oyster,
Ostrea edulis, and the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea
gigas. The Pacific oyster was introduced in the
1970s and is cultivated - being bred in hatcheries
and then grown on in the sea - usually in plastic
mesh bags. Native oysters are almost all dredged from
wild stocks, though these may be re-laid to grow and
"fatten" on inshore beds. The process of fattening
helps the oysters to become plump and succulent, although
they actually contain almost no fat, as the reserves
they build up are mainly glycogen, which is carbohydrate.
Native oysters spawn in the summer, and so are not
marketed in the United Kingdom from May to the end
of August. Pacific oysters rarely spawn at the temperatures
in the United Kingdom and so can be sold all the year
round.
A
Cagey Concern - Bangladesh
Fish is an important part of the diet for the people
in Bangladesh and the supply is significant in nutritional
terms, providing 80% of animal protein and 8% of the
total protein intake of the average diet. Fish are
important sources of calcium, fats and vitamins. Fish
catches vary throughout the year but are highest after
the monsoon rains when supplies of other foods, such
as rice, are low. Capture of small, low value fish
is particularly important for the extremely poor after
the rice harvest when the demand for their labour
declines.
Seasonal flooding of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and
Meghna rivers during the monsoon rains means that
up to 40% of Bangladesh can be covered in water. With
so much water, fishing plays a vital role in the economy
of rural villages. At least 11% of the population
are estimated to depend principally on the fisheries
sector for their livelihood, while 73% of rural households
engage in part time fishing (Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources Sector Strategy and Programme 1995-2000,
DFID Bangladesh).
Fishy
Business - Mozambique
The Nampula Artisanal Fisheries Project in Mozambique
was developed in 1993. The project aims to improve
the level of income, employment and food security
of artisanal fishermen and their families through
the provision of fishing inputs and credit, testing
and promoting of new fishing techniques and processing
methods, improving transport and marketing, and improving
the access to drinking water and sanitation facilities.
The four main sets of activities under the project
are fisheries support, financial services, institutional
strengthening and rural infrastructure. In 1999, a
Community Development Fund was added to the project.
The project is managed and executed through the Government's
Institute for the Development of Small-Scale Fisheries
- IDPPE.
A
Long Haul - Indonesia
The management of inland fisheries based on the seasonal
flood plains of rivers was the subject of a major
research project undertaken between 1997 and 2000.
The objective of the study was to identify the various
factors influencing the sustainable use of 'reserves'
so that management guidelines could be recommended.
The purpose of the guidelines was to develop ways
to enhance the fish stocks for the economic benefit
of the fishing communities. While a 'reserve' is usually
thought of as an area free from exploitation - usually
for nature conservation purposes - the project used
the concept of a 'harvest reserve' which could be
managed, using appropriate regulations, in a way which
allowed fishing to take place while the natural fish
stocks were sustained or increased. Throughout the
project, the priority was to maximise the benefit
to fishing communities.
Kelp!
- Ireland
Seaweed though often considered more of a nuisance
than anything else when decaying on our beaches is
in fact one of the world's most remarkable plants.
For centuries, farmers along the Irish coast have
used different kinds of seaweed, or kelp, to improve
their soil and their health. Maritime plants are ten
or more times richer in minerals than any known crop
growing on land. This plant from the sea now has a
wide reputation as a garden fertiliser for use in
horticulture, farming and as a health supplement.
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