Journal of Fisheries & Livestock Production
Open Access

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Aquaculture is well established for ensuring food security, economic development, improved nutrition and poverty alleviation. But the shrimp and prawn farming issues due to socio-economic and environmental degradation require further consideration. However, very little effort has been given to provide a holistic scenario of shrimp-prawn farming and its direct and indirect impacts on food and nutrition security in LIDCs including Bangladesh. This multi-disciplinary work was aimed at identifying the existing farming systems at different agro-ecological landscapes in the south-west coastal seafood farming area in Bangladesh and its impact on community food security. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: On the basis of surface water salinity level, the shrimp-prawn farming areas were divided into four different agro-ecological zones: (high saline (HS)>10 ppt, medium saline (MS)<10>5, low saline (LS)<5 ppt; freshwater (FW) area 0 ppt). In depth survey both in farm and household level were executed. Social well-being categories (better-off and worseoff) were practiced according to Haque (2007). The criterion for selection of households was having at least one unmarried adolescent girl (10-18 years old). 24 hrs foods recall method and food frequency questionnaire were developed and administrated with two replications and the anthropometric data height, weight, age, sex, MUAC were collected to address the preparedness for critical 1000 days issues. Blood samples from finger tips were collected and dried on a sample pad to identify the n-3 fatty acid level being one of the vital biomarkers to address the adolescent health outcomes that are mostly related to seafood consumption. Findings: About 57 different species were commonly available and tiger shrimp, speckled shrimp, mud crab, freshwater prawn are the main export commodities that varied from 20-48% in terms of volume and with the rest being consumed locally and regionally. Rice and about 22 varieties of dyke vegetables are available and main items are gourd, cucumber, etc. In terms of volume, 20% fish, 60-80% rice and 5-10% vegetables were consumed at household level and the rest of them are destined for local, regional and international markets. Regarding the intra-household allocation of fish consumption of adolescent girls these ranged from 80-148 g/day while the household head father consumed 123-205 g/day. The BMI and MUAC values of the adolescent girls were in the acceptable range. The n-3 long chain PUFA in the whole blood samples of adolescent girls were gradually decreased from higher saline to lower saline areas however there was no significant differences between better off and worse-off segment in the same agro-ecology. The omega-3 index in higher saline areas was in intermediate stage however adolescent girls in the lower saline areas were in undesirable stage (Fig 1). The n-3 long chain PUFA ratio total PUFA (Land 2003) also followed the same trend across the agro-ecologies. These findings are quite different as most previous assertions are based on poorly generalizable ‘worst case’ scenarios. This paper attempted to consider the aquatic and terrestrial diversity and its impacts on household consumption and nutritional outcomes of vulnerable adolescent girls.

Biography

Abdullah-Al Mamun is a Research Scholar from University of Stirling, United Kingdom He has graduated from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh, with an immediate post-graduation in Victoria Government College, Comilla. As a Research Scholar, he is a recipient of many awards and grants for his valuable contributions and discoveries in major area of research. His research interests, as a Research Scholar lie in Fish Nutrition his area of expertise, as a Research Scholar credited him with many publications in national and international journals. He is committed to highest standards of excellence and it proves through his co-authorship.

Email: mamun_au22@yahoo.com