Staff Correspondent:

Bangladesh’s fishing sub-sector saw a boom in recent years, and the impressive expansion facilitated the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, analysts say.

Although the agriculture sector’s growth fell in the outgoing fiscal year, the fishing sub-sector grew at 15.79 per cent, the provisional estimation of GDP at the current price released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) showed.

Analysts say many Bangladeshi farmers are transforming their agricultural land into fish farms as it is more profitable than crops and horticulture. Many agricultural and fallow lands have been converted into ponds across the country and brought under fish farming, they add.

Bangladesh is a leading fish-producing country in the world with a total production of 4.915 million metric tonnes in FY23, the fisheries department data showed. The production exceeded the target of 4.782 million metric tonnes.

A significant portion of Bangladesh’s fish comes from freshwater sources, and the country is recognised around the world for its hilsa production, holding the first position in global catch.

According to official data, the fishing sub-sector’s share in GDP growth at the current price was 9.31 per cent on average between FY19 and FY21.

Fish farming was severely affected in FY22 following the Covid-19 pandemic as the sub-sector’s growth declined to only 7.84 per cent, the BBS data showed.

It started to balloon from FY23, when it recorded 10.73 per cent growth.

In FY24, the sub-sector grew at 11.05 per cent and reached an impressive 15.79 per cent in the current fiscal year, the BBS data showed.

Meanwhile, the agriculture sector over the last three years grew at 10.91 per cent in FY23, 13.03 per cent in FY24, and 12.23 per cent in FY25.

Under it, the crops and horticulture sub-sector grew at 11.25 per cent, animal farming at 11.16 per cent, forest and related services at 11.26 per cent, and fishing at 15.79 per cent in FY25.

Economist Dr M Masrur Reaz told journalist since fish farming has produced higher returns than crops, farmers are transforming their agricultural activities and occupations.

“Besides, road communication in villages has improved, linking the big growth centres and cities, resulting in better marketing facilities for fish and the related items.”

In addition, since high-valued protein sources like meat and poultry have become costly and the inflationary pressure is straining people, the demand for fish has jumped and its farming has increased across the country, he added.

The growth in fisheries over the years compared to other agricultural sub-sectors is really impressive, Mr Masrur added.