By- Mohammad Mohiuddin http://www.daily-sun.com/details_yes_04-04-2011
Bangladesh is a coastal state, which borders the sea Bay of Bengal, which is an integral part of the Indian Ocean. The configuration of Bangladesh coast is concave whereas that of the adjoining neighbours (Myanmar and India) is convex. In view of the fact that certain sea zones such as the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf extend to 200 nautical miles from the baselines, Bangladeshi zones overlap in part with the zones of the neighbouring states. To settle the maritime dispute between Bangladesh and its neighbours legal proceeding are pending to the ITLOS (between Bangladesh and Myanmar, ITLOS case no.16) and
Arbitration Tribunal (between Bangladesh and India).
According to the claim of Bangladesh, her total sea area would be approximately 207,000 square km. This sea area is about 1.4 times greater than the total land area of Bangladesh.
Length of Bangladesh coast is about 310km. Bangladesh has few mineral resources on the land, but there are a lot of mineral resources within its sea zones. Ocean field is multi-sectoral, including not only fisheries sector, but also marine tourism, forestry (mangrove), environment, marine transport, industrial, marine construction, marine services, and relevant other sectors.
There is no individual ocean policy in Bangladesh which is needed for the better management of the ocean.
In relation to the ocean laws in existence in Bangladesh are as follows-
H The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925(Act No. XXVI of 1925);
H The Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act, 1974 (Act No.
XXVI of 1974);
H The Bangladesh Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1983(Act No. XXVI of 1983);
H The Marine Fisheries Ordinance, 1983(Act No. XXXV of 1983);
H The Coast Guard Act, 1994(Act No. 26 of 1994);
H The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 (Act No. 1 of 1995); It is the main legislative framework with the main objectives of conservation and improvement; and control and mitigating pollution of environment including marine environment;
H The Environment Conservation Rules, 1997;

H The Admiralty Court Act, 2000 (Act No. 43 of 2000); and
H The Environment Court Act,2010(Act No. 56 of 2010).
The information regarding administrative ministry of the above mentioned legislation of
Bangladesh is shown below -
1) The Marine Fisheries Ordinance, 1983 (Act No. XXXV of 1983).
Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock
2) The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925 (Act No. XXVI of 1925);
-The Bangladesh Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1983 (Act No. XXVI of 1983); and
- The Admiralty Court Act, 2000 (Act No. 43 of 2000). Ministry of Shipping.
3) The Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act, 1974 (Act No. XXVI of 1974). Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
4) The Coast Guard Act, 1994 (Act No. 26 of 1994). Ministry of Home Affairs.
5) The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 (Act No. 1 of 1995);
- The Environment Conservation Rules, 1997; and
6) The Environment Court Act, 2010 (Act No. 56 of 2010). Ministry of Environment and Forest.
According to the above mentioned information it is clear that in Bangladesh there are policies relating to ocean but all of those are in scattered way. As shown above there are different legislations relating to the Ocean management but there is no specific single legislation dealing with the Ocean policy Management and development of ocean affairs. Therefore it may be recommended to adopt a new policy dealing with the ocean incorporating all of the ocean related provision in different Legislation of Bangladesh.
Why Ocean Policy is needed
We may summarise the necessity of Ocean Policy as bellow:
A. Global Level:
H Oceans compose 72% of the earth surface;
H Coasts contain more than 50% of human population;

H 70% of mega cities (greater than 8 million) are coastal;
H coasts yield 90% of global fisheries on which 400 million fishers rely;
H 90% of world trade moves by ship;
H Travel and Tourism is the largest industry in the world, much of it is related to coasts and marine areas;
H Over 25% of the world's energy supplies are produced in the ocean areas offshore;
H Coral reef resources contribute almost $375 billion to the world's economy.
B. Fisheries:
H Fish contribute a significant amount of animal protein to the diets of people. It is estimated that between 15 and 20 percent of all animal proteins come from aquatic animals;
H For most coastal countries, fish and fishery related food consumption is as high as 70% with a total estimated subsistence capture of 102 000 mt per year. These catches are from the coastal fisheries alone.
C. Shipping Sector:
H Over ninety-five percent (95%) of Trade from either outside to the region, or within the region and, or within an island state itself is conducted through shipping services.
H However, the issues and concerns associated with the Pacific SIDS shipping, and especially, inter-island shipping are; safe and secure shipping to meet international standards, cleaner seas, improved social and economic well-being of seafaring communities, building proper wharfs, and safety at sea.
D. Tourism Sector:
H The Asia Pacific region has some magnificent islands, beaches, lagoons, and unique coastal areas that attract tourism developments; and
H An emerging issue that has the potential to threaten the growth of tourism in the Asia Pacific region is the increasing rate of loss of biodiversity.
E. Finally: l Sea level rise and climate change pose major threats, therefore there is:

l The need to ensure sustainability of ocean resources in Bangladesh; l The need to integrate ocean uses in Bangladesh's to deal with ocean use conflicts at all levels; l The need to meet international and regional obligations; l The need to delimitate Bangladesh's Maritime Boundary with her neighbours; l The need to create an enabling environment to deal with climate change and the threat of natural disasters. l The need to change the present sectoral management systems to reflect the integrated nature of the coastal and oceanic ecosystems and the integrated human aspect of societies.
However, as of date there is no decision in Bangladesh about the individual ocean policy. A new
Ocean Policy might be adopted by the joint decision of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock
(MOFL) and Ministry of Shipping (MOS). For Bangladesh it is possible through an order by the concerned Ministry and organisations. Therefore it is strongly recommended to form an interministerial committee as soon as possible consisting with delegations from the concerned ministries, agencies, organisations to prepare a draft Ocean Policy.
Ocean policy, among others, shall observe the relationship between various functions, potentials, constraints and institutional marine natural resources which are utilised in a sustainable manner. Draft of Ocean Policy may have main focus including ocean economic policy, ocean governance policy, maritime security policy, ocean culture policy and marine environment policy.
The writer is a contributor to daily sun.