Coastal and Marine Fisheries

Overview

Brief Introduction

Department of Coastal and Marine Fisheries (CMF) is one of the leading departments of the Faculty of Fisheries at Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet. The department was established in 2008 to meet the qualified manpower required for coastal and marine fisheries resources conservation, culture, management and exploitation in Bangladesh. Since its foundation, the department has been imparting quality education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This department offers the Master of Science (MS) in Coastal and Marine Fisheries and the Ph.D. degree as well. The importance of the department is immense in the context of ensuring the food security and economic development of Bangladesh because of 710 km coastline with harvesting area of 118,813 sq km and exclusive economic zone area of 140,860 sq km. The department provides theoretical and practical knowledge on different branches of coastal and marine fisheries in Bangladesh, regional and global context. The major strengths of the department are its eight (08) highly skilled faculties, modern teaching facilities, up-to-date and interdisciplinary syllabus, collaborative and community-oriented research with stakeholders, and two (02) well-equipped research laboratories. The postgraduate students of this department carried out research activities in diverse and emerging coastal and marine-related research fields including technology development and extension, livelihoods and food security, salinity intrusion, environmental parameters, coastal and marine pollution and its impact, sea weeds farming and management, diversity of fish and shell fish in coastal waters, impact of shrimp PL harvesting on coastal waters, climate change impacts and adaptation, disaster risk management, fishery stock assessment, coastal and marine resources conservation, fisheries policy reform and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), blue economy and emerging ocean frontiers, under the supervision of competent teachers. Forty (40) students had already completed postgraduate degrees from this department who have already acquired fame in various governmental and non-governmental job sectors in both home and abroad. The department often receives research grants from prestigious national and international agencies. The research outcomes are regularly published in highly ranked national and international peer-reviewed journals. At stride, the department is continuously striving to enhance the standard of fisheries education, and build the capacity of its graduates to gain scholarly knowledge, develop expertise, and improve mind skills to meet the evolving needs and tackle the complex challenges in fisheries education, research, and extension services. 

The vision of the CMF department

The vision of CMF department is to become a center of excellence in marine fisheries education and research as well as to contribute to the livelihood and food security, ocean-based economic growth, and sustainability.

The mission of the CMF department

The mission of the department is to offer high-quality teaching and education and promote research that produces highly skilled and trained graduates who can better contribute to sustainable and responsible fisheries in marine and coastal environments with a particular focus on harnessing the fisheries potentials for a significant contribution to well-being and poverty alleviation of the stakeholders and the nation. 

The objectives of the department 

• to learn regarding the principles and management of mangroves,

• to learn the basic and elemental aspect of estuarine, mangrove, coastal and marine ecosystems,

• to know the fisheries resources policy, act, rules and amendments of Bangladesh and International organizations,

  • to understand the interdisciplinary nature of oceanography by exposing the basic principles of geological, chemical, physical and biological oceanography,

  • to earn knowledge  about  coastal  zone  management especially  on  the  important  coastal  resources  and  fisheries,

  • to learn and manage about marine and coastal flora and fauna,

  • to understand both the potential impacts of climate change particularly in the coastal areas of Bangladesh as well as world perspective and

  • to know about pollution sources and types, its effects on coastal and marine life, and public health as well as their remedial measures, etc.

Department of Coastal and Marine Fisheries at a Glance

Teaching Staffs of the Department

Degree Awarding Program both under Graduate and Postgraduate

Under Graduate Courses

1. Principles of Mangrove Management (Theoretical)

2. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems (Theoretical and Practical)

3. Oceanography (Theoretical and Practical)

4. Coastal Zone Management (Theoretical and Practical)

5. Marine Biology and Resources (Theoretical and Practical)

6. Fishing Laws and Responsible Fisheries (Theoretical)

7. Climate Change Adaptation (Theoretical) and

8. Marine Pollution (Theoretical).

9. Physical and Chemical Oceanography

10. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)

11. Mangrove Ecosystem Management

12. Coastal and Marine Pollution Management

13. Biodiversity Conservation and Marine Resource Management

14. Biological Oceanography

15. Hydrology and Meteorology

16. Coastal and Marine Fisheries Biology

17. Marine Fisheries Economics and Management and

Postgraduate Courses

January-June Semester

10.  Project Design and Management.

July-December Semester

1. Coastal and Marine Ecology

2. Climate Change and Fisheries

3. Marine Botany

4. Coastal and Marine Fisheries Resource Assessment and Management

5. Oceanography and Marine Geosciences

6. Ocean Instrumentation and Technology

7. Community-Based Fisheries Management

8. Environmental Impact Assessment and Management

9. Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing for Resource Management

10.  Oil and Pesticide Pollution and

11.  Biostatistics: Experimental Design and Multivariate Analysis.

Research Semester

1. Research Work

2. Thesis Evaluation and

3. Thesis Defense, etc.

Major Area of Research

Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote sensing (RS) in the field of Marine Science, Fisheries Stock Assessment, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Marine, Coastal and Mangrove Ecosystem, Climate Change and Fisheries, Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Services, Marine Biology, System Ecology, Conservation Biology, Fisheries Biodiversity, Coastal and Marine Pollution and Toxicology, Community-Based Fisheries Management, Sustainability of Coastal and Marine Small Scale Fisheries, Fisheries Policy Reforms, Breeding, Nursery and Culture Management of Coastal and Marine Organism (shell and fin-fishes), Dynamics and Resilience of Coastal Socio-Ecological Systems, Gender Aspects Fisheries, Value Chain and Pro-Poor Growth.

Laboratory and Research Facilities

There are two laboratories under the Department of Coastal and Marine Fisheries namely

1. Laboratory of Marine and Coastal Resources Management

2. Laboratory of Oceanography and Biosciences

1. Laboratory of Marine and Coastal Resources Management

The main focus of the laboratory is to do interdisciplinary research on fisheries biodiversity conservation and management and their relation to community livelihoods and wellbeing. In particular, students those are interested in exploring the influence of governance and socio-economic factors on marine and coastal conservation outcomes, social-ecological dynamics in marine fisheries and responses of marine resource users and managers to environmental changes in coastal and marine ecosystems, they may work in this lab. Student employs a mix of social science and geospatial methods to explore human-environment dynamics at multiple spatial scales. Researchers and Faculty’s members work closely with local communities and government agencies to bring theoretical perspectives and apply strategies to solve management challenges. Time demand research on a wide array of sustainability perspectives of marine and coastal resources management easily performs using facilities of the lab.

2. Laboratory of Oceanography and Biosciences

In the oceanography and biosciences laboratory, our task is to study the fundamental problems in marine biology and applying that knowledge to societal benefits and sustainability of the ocean environment. The laboratory fascinates to study the biodiversity, abundances, distribution and temporal variation of marine organisms under different natural and environmental perspective. Students use different mathematical and statistical models to analyze the fisheries catch at age data, catch and effort data, length-frequency data, population dynamics and estimates biological reference points for the different harvest strategies, marine population size, their stock status and activities and ocean health. Facilities are available in the laboratory to conduct research based on variety of approaches including field observations, laboratory experiments and theoretical models.