Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter has stated that fisherwomen in a family must also have identity cards alongside their male counterparts. She mentioned that the government-issued fisher identity cards predominantly feature fishermen, with women accounting for only 4%.
When one person in a family has a job, she continued, that individual is recognised as the employed member, but in fishing, the entire family is involved in the work, adding that, in this process, women often have to work more. Therefore, arrangements must be made to provide identity cards to fisherwomen alongside fishermen.
The adviser made these remarks while delivering the chief guest’s speech at the “National Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Fisheries Management” seminar organised by the private research and development organisation Center for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS), held at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Wednesday.
The Fisheries and Livestock adviser stated that attending this seminar has increased her responsibilities. “We must work more for fishers, especially female fishers. Even now, women are struggling to gain recognition as farmers, let alone as fisherwomen. Yet, fisherwomen fish in rivers to support their families. They run the household in the absence of their husbands.”
The fisheries adviser said, “This profession involves the entire family. I was deeply saddened to hear about the sufferings of the Manta community.” Addressing the legal issues of the fishing community, the adviser mentioned that many fishers die or go missing while fishing at sea during storms and cyclones. In the absence of proof of their husbands’ deaths, their wives cannot access bank funds. Moreover, they cannot receive widow allowances. These legal complexities must be resolved, she said.
She added, “Our laws are designed with men in mind. Women have very little place in them. The previous fisheries law was similar. Therefore, in the draft Fisheries Act 2025, we have focused on addressing these issues. To recognise women, we must acknowledge their numbers. However, the number of women fishers in our records is negligible, only 4%. Yet, there are countless fisherwomen in society. We are working to address these gaps.”
Pointing out that non-fishers have obtained fisher identity cards, she said, “We investigated the previous list and found that non-fishers had obtained fisher identity cards. These have now been canceled. We want genuine fishers to receive cards. Additionally, in families where men have cards, women must also have them.”
Furthermore, she said legal action will be taken against those using pesticides for fishing. Regarding waterbody leases, the adviser stated that waterbody leases are often taken in the names of people close to the waterbody but actually by others. In this case, bio-based leases should be granted, meaning they should be given to fishers involved in the profession. Leases for baors (water bodies) are being ensured for fishers, and discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of Land regarding haors (wetlands) to ensure genuine fishers receive them.
Acknowledging their limitations, she said, “During fishing ban periods, we cannot provide assistance to all who need it under the VGF card programme. We are discussing with the Ministry of Finance to increase the amount and number of beneficiaries. We aim to build a discrimination-free society.”
The Director General of the Department of Fisheries, Dr Md Abdur Rauf, was present as a special guest. He said, “Female workers receive 30% less wages than their male counterparts. Additionally, our waterbody leases are revenue-based. This should be replaced with the policy of ‘the net to the one who fishes.’ Fisher identity cards will be issued after ensuring birth registration and NID cards. Currently, out of 1.7 million registered fishers, 44,000 are women. We must increase this number.”
Following the dialogue, an open discussion was held, where various recommendations were presented for empowering female fishers and strengthening sustainable fisheries management.
The dialogue was attended by government officials, researchers, development partner organisations, civil society, academics, and representatives from coastal fishing communities.
