A Critical Review of the Institutional and Regulatory Framework for Harnessing Blue Economy Sustainably in Bangladesh : Learning from Australia

This study's overreaching objective was to assess the suitability and applicability of the existing legal and institutional framework for managing the coastal and marine resources in Bangladesh. Besides, the legal and institutional arrangement of Australia was examined to adopt the best practices for Bangladesh. A glimpse of the potential coastal and marine resources of Bangladesh was assessed to have an idea of the untapped resources' dimensions. Together, the fundamental challenges faced by the artisanal and small-scale fishers in Bangladesh were critically scrutinized. The empirical data collection followed a multi-approach like mini-symposium, consultation workshops, focus group discussions, case studies, visiting, personal, and key informant interviews. The study revealed that the vast provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services of the Bay of Bengal, including its coast and mangrove, are mostly unexplored. The regulatory framework in Bangladesh is characterized by jurisdictional overlapping followed by the conflict of interests among the public institutes, which originated from the aged and fragmented laws and ambiguous business allocation; consequently, the artisanal and small-scale fishers suffer a lot. On the flip side, despite some limitations, Australia established sectoral governance by enacting strong legislative measures. The local government and community’s right in resource management locally has been institutionalized in Australia, which remains fuzzy in Bangladesh. Taking lessons from Australia, Bangladesh can enact new sectoral laws followed by business reallocation for the line ministries. The study will help policymakers identify the bottlenecks rooted in Bangladesh’s existing regulatory and institutional framework