Balancing between livelihood and biodiversity conservation: a model study on gear selectivity for harvesting small indigenous fishes in southern Bangladesh

Abstract

This study has determined a suitable mesh size for small indigenous fish species (SIS) harvesting and has also developed a new gill net operation technique taking into consideration of aquatic biodiversity conservation, the daily intake of micro-nutrients and the livelihood of the rural community. It provides an insight into how employment of specialized fishing gear can help balance SIS fishing as a source of the rural community’s livelihood against biodiversity conservation.