Dynamics of floodplain fisheries in Bangladesh, results of 8 years fisheries monitoring in the Compartmentalization Pilot Project

Floodplain fisheries were monitored from 1992 until 2000 in the Compartmentalization Pilot Project in Tangail, Bangladesh. In permanent floodplains about 165 +/- 28 kg ha(-1) of fish was caught annually. For seasonal floodplains, this figure was 83 +/- 23 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) . The fish catch exhibited a strong seasonal variation, with the highest catch in October, when the floodwater recedes towards the river, and the lowest catch during the dry season in April/May. The annual catch varied with the extent of flooding, with high catches in wet years and low catches in dry years. The extent of flooding was quantified through a Flood Index. Plotting the annual yields against this Flood Index provided a significant relation (P < 0.05), confirming the existence of a flood pulse. The fishing effort (f ) and the catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) were significantly related (P < 0.05), whereby the fishing effort increased with increasing CPUE. The results are discussed within the frame of fisheries management in Bangladesh and highlight the need for long-term data for proper evaluation of fisheries projects and the development of management schemes, and the difficulty of applying standard surplus production models in floodplain fisheries.