Livelihood Challenges of the River Fishermen in Bangladesh: A Systematic Review and Recommendations for the Policy and Practice

Abstract

Fishing in rivers is one of the major occupations of fisher communities of Bangladesh who live near the river banks across the country. The objectives of this qualitative review are to identify the key livelihood challenges experienced by the river fishermen (fishers) and to recommend some policies in light of the previous studies available for review. The researchers used a systematic review guided by the PRISMA method/guidelines. Boolean search strings were used to identify the literature from databases like PubMed, MDPI, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The findings show that the fishers' communities are excluded from mainstream society and deprived of enjoyment of basic human rights and needs. Also, they are suffering from extreme levels of economic hardships and vulnerabilities, climate change-related natural catastrophes, diseases, and poor communication systems. The fisher communities were also found to experience social stigma, social exclusion, and isolation. Moreover, family pressure linked to demographic change, financial constraints, poor market facilities, reduction of fishing areas for territorial conflicts, political unrest, and pressure from the musclemen and socially miscreants or deviant persons is observed in the study. The fishers were also found to suffer from a shortage of fishing gear, boats, nets, and resources.  Based on the systematic review of literature related to the study, several policy recommendations have been made that contribute to promoting the quality of lives of fishermen (fishers) through socio-economic, cultural, physical-infrastructural, and environmental development.