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A Bangladeshi fish farmer throws a cast-net
into her pond to catch some fish for her family. The ponds contain water
trapped when the monsoon floods of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers recede.
Farmers stock the ponds with fish fingerlings each season. From the harvest
they can feed their families and have some cash from the sale of surplus
fish. |
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The cast-net brings food for the family. In Bangladesh, protein
malnutrition is widespread. The fish farming program, funded by the United
States (USAID) and carried out by the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute
and ICLARM, the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management,
will go a long way towards redressing this dietary deficiency. |
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The best part of the pond aquaculture program is that after farmers
take what they need for their families, there are plenty of fish to sell
in the market. Here a professional net crew harvests the pond as the farmer
looks on. The fish ponds are fertilized with things like cow manure. Rice
husks and other natural, local products are used as fish feed. |
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Bangladesh is mostly river delta country and is very flat. Much
of the land is flooded for a good part of the year. When the flood waters
have gone, farmers can grow rice and mustard seed. They extract the oil
from the mustard seed and use it in cooking. |
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Bangladeshis often pump the water out of ponds and then dig the
fish that have been trapped out of the mud. It is a community activity
with adults and children participating. No fish is too small in this country
where many people go hungry every night. |
