The Bay of Bengal is one the 66 very large and extraordinary marine ecosystems consisting of 8
different countries under its jurisdiction. It encompasses the continental shelves of Maldives, Sri
Lanka and Indonesia, where tunas are abundant; nutrient rich upland river basins and unique
Sunderban mangrove ecosystems of India & Bangladesh that supports a host of finfish and shellfish
species of commercial significance and valuable coral reefs of Malaysia, Thailand & Myanmar.
More than 400 million people in the Bay of Bengal large Marine Ecosystem (BoBLME) region
depend directly or indirectly upon this 6.2 million sq. km fragile marine ecosystem for their food and
livelihood. Producing approximately 4% of the value of the world’s catch (worth US $ 4 billion), the
annual fish production in BoB is about 6.0 million metric tonnes and the region provides fisheries
livelihood directly to 4.5 million peopl
