One of the matters uppermost in the minds of people who have been associated with the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) is whether it will develop as an Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO) to meet the growing needs of the coastal fisheries in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) region - or end up as a page in the annals of history.
The Documentation of Learnings of the Third Phase (BOBP/REP/85), though not intended to explore the membercountries' views on the future ofBOBP, came out with a clear message that the Programme should continue to tackle the challenges of fisheries in the region. Subsequently, in Phuket, Thailand, representatives of the national governments at the 24th Advisory Committee Meeting in October 1999 voiced clearly and categorically, through the Phuket Declaration,their desire to see BOBP emerge as an IGO.
Why an IGO? The role of coastal fisheries in food security, employment and income in the BOB countries is critical. The BOB large marine ecosystem supports some 6-8 million fish harvesters directly, of whom about 90 percent are small-scale fishermen. Besides, about 35-40 million others are engaged in ancillary activities relating to fisheries. The region covers some of the most productive waters in the world and a fisheries which is characterized by complexities of multi-gear and multispecies resources...read more