24 DECEMBER 2013 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG increasing by 2.7 kg to 18.1 kg/ capita (Table 2). This quantity is similar to the estimated average global fish consumption of 18.6 kg/capita (FAO 2012). Urban areas posted an even sharper rise, up 3.8 kg (21 percent) to 21.9 kg/capita. Consumption growth in rural areas, which lagged behind from 2000 to 2005, also began to catch up with that in cities between 2005 and 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, national fish consumption increased by 26 percent and consumption in urban areas by a massive 38 percent, while rural consumption grew by 20 percent. Expenditure on fish among consumers in major cities is nearly twice that of those in rural areas because of income differentials. Consumers in the poorest income quartile continue to consume less than half as much as those in the wealthiest. Present Status of Aquafeed Production The massive growth in commercial aquaculture reported in the preceding section has been made possible, in large part, by concurrent growth in the production and use of aquafeeds, with commercial pelleted feeds replacing ‘farmmade’ and ‘raw’ unformulated feeds. Production of commercial aquafeeds increased by 32 percent per year from 2008 to 2012, reaching about 1.07 million t in 2012. Sinking feeds, accounting for 81 percent of total manufactured output, dominate over extruded floating feed (19 percent). Growth in the production of floating aquafeed has been most rapid, averaging 89 percent per year over the last four years. Based on demand forecasting, total aquafeed production is projected to increase to 1.57 million The emergence of this type of aquaculture is a relatively recent development in Bangladesh, assuming increasing importance since the late 1990s, subsequent to the import of non-native pangasius Pangasianodon hypophthalmus broodfish from Thailand in 1993 (Ali et al. 2013), the later establishment of monosex tilapia hatcheries and development of spawning techniques for minor commercial species, including climbing perch Anabas testudineus, stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis and walking catfish Clarias spp. Improving transport and communications, growing urban markets and rising incomes have been other key drivers of this growth. Approximately equal portions of aquaculture output are now accounted for by semi-intensive and intensive commercial aquaculture, each of which accounts for close to 400,000 t (29 percent) of total output (Table 1). Although highly significant, commercial semiintensive carp culture has seldom been recognized as a distinct form of production on its own but, by our reckoning, covers an area of approximately 111,905 ha, with an average productivity of 3.5 t/ha. The average productivity of intensive commercial operations ranges from ≥10 t/ha for tilapia to around 40 t/ha for pangasius, but covers an estimated combined total area of only 15,000 ha. The rapid growth of commercial aquaculture has been reflected in changing patterns of fish consumption. The Household Income and Expenditure Survey is implemented every five years, with assistance from the World Bank, to determine key national statistics such as poverty rates. The survey indicates a remarkable 18 percent increase in per capita fish consumption between 2005 and 2010 at the national level, with annual fish consumption TABLE 2. National, rural and urban annual per capita fish consumption, 2000-2010 (BBS 2007; BBS 2011). Annual fish Annual fish Annual fish Change in Change in Change in Change in consumption consumption consumption consumption consumption consumption consumption per capita per capita per capita (kg) (%) (kg) (%) (kg) 2000 (kg) 2005 (kg) 2010 2000-2005 2000-2005 2005-2010 2005-2010 National 14.1 15.4 18.1 1.3 9.4 2.7 17.6 Rural 13.8 14.5 16.7 0.7 5.0 2.2 15.3 Urban 14.9 18.1 21.9 3.2 21.2 3.8 20.8 TOP, FIGURE 2. Harvesting pangasius from an intensive pelletfed pond. BOTTOM, FIGURE 3. Actual and projected aquafeed production (2008-2015). Figure 3. Actual and projected aquafeed production (2008-‐2015). 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Produc'on (million tonnes) Year Sinking feed FloaCng feed Total
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