Effektivitet, risiko og forvaltning av fiskerisektoren i Bangladesh

This dissertation consists of an introduction and five independent papers on Bangladesh fisheries sector. The first paper investigates how the fishery sector has developed and identifies the potential problems faced by the fisheries sector. Findings show that both fish production and productivity have increased for aquaculture and capture fisheries. Several problems, possible solutions and future prospects for fisheries sector are discussed in this paper. The second paper estimates the profitability and productivityfarm size relationship in aquaculture and investigates how smallholder farmers can sustain fish farming in the long run. It shows that the inverse profitability-farm size relationship holds but in general large fish farmers are more efficient, productive and profitable compared to small farmers. Access to credit and training are essential to sustain fish farming in the long-run. The third paper determines the production risk of pangas fish farming in Bangladesh. Results reveal that significant production risk exists in pangas farming. The use of large amount of fingerlings has risk increasing effects for all types of farms (small, medium and large farms) but feed usage is found to have a risk-increasing effect on production for large farms only, while the reverse holds in case of small farms. Findings suggest that access to credit and training in the fish farming can reduce production risk for smallholders. The fourth paper is on floodplain aquaculture where the impact on poverty and inequality of community-based aquaculture (CBA) system is investigated. We find that fish income and total household income is significantly and equally distributed after adopting this management system. Moreover, CBA management system can reduce the incidence and depth of poverty in the common resource areas. The fifth and last paper investigates whether excess capacity exists in gill-net fleet in the Bay of Bengal. If it does, then to what extent? And what are the policy alternatives for sustainable marine resource management? Results depict that the high degree of excess capacity exists in both monsoon and nonmonsoon seasons and more than one third of boats can be decommissioned. Licensing restrictions appear to be an effective instrument to eliminate the excess capacity from the fishery. However, this will have large distributional effects that need to be taken into account

Quasi-inverse pendulum model of 12 DoF bipedal walking

This paper presents modeling of a 12-degree of freedom (DoF) bipedal robot, focusing on the lower limbs of the system, and trajectory design for walking on straight path. Gait trajectories are designed by modeling of center of mass (CoM) trajectory and swing foot ankle trajectory based on stance foot ankle. The dynamic equations of motion of the bipedal robot are derived by considering the system as a quasi inverted pendulum (QIP) model. The direction and acceleration of CoM movement of the QIP model is determined by the position of CoM relative to the centre of pressure (CoP). To determine heel-contact and toe-off, two custom designed switches are attached with heel and toe positions of each foot. Four force sensitive resistor (FSR) sensors are also placed at the plantar surface to measure pressure that is induced on each foot while walking which leads to the calculation of CoP trajectory. The paper also describes forward kinematic (FK) and inverse kinematic (IK) investigations of the biped model where Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) representation and Geometric-Trigonometric (G-T) formulation approach are applied. Experiments are carried out to ensure the reliability of the proposed model where the links of the bipedal system follow the best possible trajectories while walking on straight path

Livelihood assets and food consumption status of riverbank erosion hazard people in a selected area of Bangladesh

Riverbank erosion is a major threat to Bangladesh refers to an endemic and recurrent natural hazard of our country. The study was conducted to identify the socioeconomic characteristics, find out the root causes of riverbank erosion, determine the livelihood assets and measure the calorie intake level of the riverine people. Primary data were collected from Jamalpur district in Bangladesh. The DFID approaches of livelihood and the consumption data of riverine households of seven days was measured by per person per day calorie intake level. The findings revealed that 72% of the respondents belonged to the age up to 60 years, 33.33% respondents’ education level was primary, 36% of the respondents’ primary occupation was agriculture, and 40% respondents had annual household income more than Tk. 100000 (US$ 1556.60). Most of the households identified flood, heavy rainfall, and stream of current as the main cause of riverbank erosion. Overall, human assets were in good position. About 54% respondents used leased land for their cultivation and 37.33% respondents had cash in hand. About 80% of the respondents belonged to the poor and their calorie intake level was < 2122 K. Cal. The Water Development Board of Bangladesh needs more attention to riverine people for improvement of their livelihood and food security status

Assets possession and food consumption level of haor people in a selected area of Bangladesh

Assets possession and calorie intake level of a household member reflect the livelihood patterns and food security condition of the household. The study was conducted to analyze the socioeconomic characteristics, identify the assets possession, determine the calorie intake level and analyze the perception of the households’ livelihood improvement. An interview schedule was used in field survey for primary data collection. The DFID approaches of livelihood and the consumption data of haor households of seven days were used in the study. The findings revealed that about 24.61% of the respondents were illiterate, 32.31% respondents were can sign only and 30.77% respondents had primary education, average family size was 9.66, about 51% respondents’ annual income was below Tk.60,000 (US$ 690) and, most of the respondent’s (84.62%) occupation was agriculture and fishing. The human, social, natural, physical and financial capital of the haor respondents was in a vulnerable position. The findings also revealed that about 44.61% of the respondents belonged to the ultra-poor whose per day per person calorie intake was 1350.56k.cal. All of the respondents demanded the improved road and communication facilities which are essential for their livelihood and food security improvement. The haor is being tarnished fast due to mishandling and damaging activities. The government should take necessary steps to improve the road and communication facilities in the haor area which will foster the socioeconomic development of haor people in Bangladesh

Stochastic modeling of production risk and technical efficiency of Thai koi (Anabas testudineus)farming in Northern Bangladesh

Thai koi is one of the high commercially valued farm fishes which have expanded tremendously in the northern part of Bangladesh. However, despite its impressive growth in the initial years, output of the industry is highly volatile across different years and farms. This research, following the Just and Pope framework, has made use of Kumbhakar’s (2002) extended stochastic frontier model (SFM) to estimate production risk and technical efficiency (TE) in Thai koi farming. Results show that feed is the most important input significantly influencing production. Zeolite and pesticide appear to be risk-reducing, while fingerlings, labor, feed and salt turn out to be risk-increasing inputs. The inefficiency model indicates that labor and pond area significantly reduce the technical inefficiency. Feed, fingerling and lime also act as TE-improving factors. Education of farmers improves TE, while experience, training and frequency of water change do not impact the TE. The mean TE scores are 0.73 and 0.96 for the flexible risk estimate and conventional SFM estimates, respectively. TE values appear to become exaggerated when production risk is excluded from the model. SFM recognizes that risk is involved in Thai koi farming that causes lower TE

Economics of Thai koi (climbing perch, Anabas testudineus) farming in pond in Bangladesh

With the high growth and productivity, Thai koi has opened up a new horizon of pond culture in Bangladesh. However, its growth varied widely year to year causing fluctuations in production. This study was undertaken to explore the farm insight practices in an economic viewpoint by framing a total of 149 farmers from Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. The study analyzed the farm profitability and other farming practices based on a per hectare basis for the three feed categories and determine the feed contribution to production. Among variables, feed alone experienced 73% of the gross production costs, implies a greater influence of feed on production. Though, the gross cost was higher, hence, the cost of producing per kg fish was the lowest for the floating feed. The farm income also varied with the variation of input costs among the feed brands and the performance of floating feed was found to be outstanding. Furthermore, floating feed yielded the best performances in terms of feed conversion ratio or daily mean weight gain of fish. Although, the initial investment is higher with the floating, feed farmers can earn much additional returns from the extra investment compared to other feed technologies. Generally, with an average revenue of fish was US$1.59 kg-1 and cost of US$ 1.38 kg-1, Thai koi production is considered to be a profitable agri-business. Finally, the outlook for the Thai koi farming could be very optimistic in filling the upcoming demand of fish, thus greatly improved human nutrition and food security by removing the problems and constraints are identified

A review on lower appendicular musculoskeletal system of human body

Rehabilitation engineering plays an important role in designing various autonomous robots to provide better therapeutic exercise to disabled patients. Hence it is necessary to study human musculoskeletal system and also needs to be presented in scientific manner in order to describe and analyze the biomechanics of human body motion. This review focuses on lower appendicular musculoskeletal structure of human body to represent joints and links architectures; to identify muscle attachments and functions; and to illustrate muscle groups which are responsible for a particular joint movement. Firstly, human lower skeletal structure, linking systems, joint mechanisms, and their functions are described with a conceptual representation of joint architecture of human skeleton. This section also represents joints and limbs by comparing with mechanical systems. Characteristics of ligaments and their functions to construct skeletal joints are also discussed briefly in this part. Secondly, the study focuses on muscular system of human lower limbs where muscle structure, functions, roles in moving endoskeleton structure, and supporting mechanisms are presented ellaborately. Thirdly, muscle groups are tabulated based on functions that provide mobility to different joints of lower limbs. Finally, for a particular movement action of lower extremity, muscles are also grouped and tabulated to have a better understanding on functions of individual muscle. Basically the study presents an overview of the structure of human lower limbs by characterizing and classifying skeletal and muscular systems. Kejuruteraan pemulihan memainkan peranan yang penting dalam mereka bentuk pelbagai robot autonomi untuk menyediakan latihan terapeutik yang lebih baik untuk melumpuhkan pesakit. Jadi, ia adalah perlu untuk mengkaji sistem otot manusia dan perlu disampaikan secara saintifik untuk menerangkan, dan menganalisis biomekanik gerakan tubuh manusia. Kajian ini memberi tumpuan kepada struktur otot appendicular bawah badan manusia untuk mewakili sendi dan menghubungkan seni bina; mengenal pasti lampiran otot dan fungsi; dan menggambarkan kumpulan otot yang bertanggungjawab untuk pergerakan sendi tertentu. Pertama, struktur rangka yang lebih rendah manusia, sistem yang menghubungkan, mekanisme sendi dan fungsi mereka adalah seperti yang dinyatakan dengan perwakilan konsep seni bina bersama rangka. Seksyen ini juga mewakili sendi dan anggota badan dengan membandingkan dengan sistem mekanikal. Ciri-ciri daripada ligamen dan fungsi mereka untuk membina sendi tulang juga dibincangkan secara ringkas di bahagian ini. Kedua, kajian memberi tumpuan kepada sistem otot anggota badan manusia yang lebih rendah. Struktur otot, fungsi, peranan dalam menggerakkan struktur rangka dalam, dan menyokong mekanisme yang dibentangkan di dalam bahagian ini. Ketiga, kumpulan otot adalah jadual berdasarkan fungsi yang menyediakan mobiliti kepada sendi yang berbeza anggota badan yang lebih rendah. Akhir sekali, untuk tindakan gerakan tertentu hujung yang lebih rendah, otot juga dikumpulkan dan dijadualkan untuk mempunyai pemahaman yang lebih baik mengenai fungsi otot individu. Pada asasnya kajian mewakili gambaran keseluruhan struktur anggota bawah manusia dengan mencirikan dan mengelaskan sistem rangka dan otot

Poverty and Inequality in Seasonal Floodplain Areas of Bangladesh: The Role of Fish Income from Community Based Aquaculture

Over half of Bangladesh comprises of floodplains and most of the surrounding households depend on these floodplains for their livelihood. However, these floodplains remain unused during the monsoon season due to the lack of proper management systems. The WorldFish Center implemented an action research project through a Community Based Fish Culture (CBFC) system to assess the contribution of collective actions to aquaculture for sustainable use of floodplain resources and equitable distribution of benefits among the fisher communities. Using three years of panel data from the project as well as control sites, this study examines the impact of the Community Based Fish Culture system on income, employment, inequality and poverty. Both non-parametric (propensity score matching method) and parametric (random effect model) methods are used for impact assessment. Gini decomposition & FGT poverty method is used to estimate the effect of the CBFC system on fish income as well as total income inequality and poverty measurement respectively. Both (non-parametric and parametric) methods show that the CBFC system can significantly increase fish income without any negative impact on non-fish income and it also has a positive and significant impact on employment generation. Results reveal that fish income distributed equally after adopting this management system also has a positive impact on total household income distribution in the study area. Poverty analysis shows that the incidence (head count ratio) and depth (gap) of poverty are unambiguously lower for CBFC participant households rather than non-participants. Policy implications for sustainable management are discussed.Keywords: Fish and Aquaculture Sectors' Development, Fisheries Economics, Managing Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors Part

Production Risk, Inefficiency, and Sustainability of Pangas Fish Farming: Lessons from the Bangladesh Aquaculture Sector

Pangas is a relatively new and fast growing fish species, which has shown great potential in the Bangladesh aquaculture sector. However, large output variability is observed from farm to farm and from different locations, which may indicate that production risk and inefficiency is a problem in pangas farming. This study investigates production risk and inefficiency of pangas fish farming in Bangladesh. A total of 239 farms are surveyed from three pangas producing areas of Bangladesh using a random sampling technique. Risk and inefficiency are estimated using the model presented by Kumbhakar (2002) while simple profitability estimates is used to calculate profitability. Translog form of mean production function, Cobb-Douglas form of risk function and linear inefficiency function are found to suitable for this data set. Result reveals that pangas is profitable business in all selected areas. However, only industrial feed cost constitutes about 67 percent of total production cost. Test result shows that significant production risk and inefficiency exist in Bangladesh pangas farming. Increased usage of fingerling and farm size increases the production risk, whereas, available credit support from different financial institution and increasing investment in equipment/production assets can reduce the production risk. Access to credit, training and extension service are found to decrease inefficiency of pangas fish farming. Price of feed need to be controlled and the government should establish a system to make credit available for farmers and arrange for adequate training programs to reduce production risk and inefficiency of pangas farming.Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Is tilapia farming financially profitable and efficient? Policy options for sustainable farming

Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is known as ?fish for the poor? due to its low market price. However, the question remains about the sustainability of this species because of high production cost and lower market price. Therefore, this study examined the financial profitability, technical efficiency and tried to find out the policy options for increasing the financial benefit of fish farmers. A total of 250 tilapia fish farmers were selected from seven tilapia producing areas of Bangladesh. To fulfill the objectives of this study, profitability, stochastic frontier production function, and sensitivity analysis were employed. Considering all selected farmers, tilapia farming found a profitable business where undiscounted BCR was only1.11. Among all cost items, only feed consists of 70 percent of the total production cost. The mean technical efficiency level of tilapia fish farmers was 85 percent, implies that by operating at full technical efficiency levels, tilapia yield could be increased from the current level of 20.98 to 24.13 tons per hectare and efficient farmers found more productive than inefficient farmers. Farmer?s financial benefit can be increased by reducing the feed price, decreasing FCR or increasing the output price. Feed price reduction or enhance the quality of feed could be effective policy options for sustaining the tilapia farming