USAID_Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh (ECOFISH-Bangladesh)_Quarterly Report January to March 2019

Abstract

Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh (ECOFISH-Bangladesh) is a five-year initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented jointly by WorldFish and the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Bangladesh. The project supports coastal fishing communities and other key stakeholders in improving the resilience of the Meghna River ecosystem and communities reliant on coastal fisheries. The project aims to enhance ecosystem resilience through the establishment of effective co-management in Hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) fish sanctuaries. ECOFISH-Bangladesh has been working to enhance community resilience by improving the savings, livelihoods and coping strategies of marginalized and extremely poor fisher folk, particularly women, thereby reducing their risk to climate-affected shocks and stresses and that of fishing bans. To achieve its objective of “improved resilience of the Meghna River ecosystem and communities reliant on coastal fisheries,” ECOFISH-Bangladesh supports four Intermediate Results (IRs):
IR1: Improved fisheries science for decision-making
IR2: Strengthened fisheries adaptive co-management
IR3: Enhanced resilience of Hilsa fisher communities, and
IR4: Improved policy, power and incentives.
Considering the recent influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and its impacts on local communities and natural resources, the USAID ECOFISH interventions have been extended to USAID’s Resilience Focus Area (RFA) in Cox’s Bazar focusing Ukhiya-Teknaf peninsula. The overall goal of the ECOFISH intervention is to improve ecosystem resilience of the Naf river and the marine habitats and wellbeing of the host fishing communities in Cox’s Bazar. A unified, multifaceted and transdisciplinary approach have been employed to get the host communities back from marginalized situation and also to address the issues of small scale fisheries management in the Naf river and the marine ecosystem in RFA, Cox’s Bazar