Paper Title
Existing Scenario Of The Overall Aquaculture Management And Socioeconomic Status Of Fish Farmers In Khulna District, Bangladesh

Abstract
A study was conducted on fish farmers in Khulna district from January to June, 2015. A total of 200 fish farmers were interviewed with a well-structured questionnaire. The survey reveals that most of the pond fish farmers use lime (95%), fertilizer (83%) for pond preparation and before pond preparation 87% farmers remove aquatic weed from their pond. About 87% farmer used the hatchery produced fry but only 13% used the natural fry. Most of the fish farmer directly stocked the fishes in the grow out pond (42%), 23% stocked firstly at a nursery pond and 35% stocked in the cage before releasing of the fry in the grow-out pond. The highest stocking density (47%) in the study area was found 100 to 200 fry/decimal and the highest (69%) fish farmer stocked the fingerling size were from 0.5 to 2.0cm. About 67% framer used balance feed but 33% farmer used the supplementary feed because of financial crisis. About 47% farmer exchanged their pond water and 53% did not exchange to manage the water quality well. About 27% people had the lack of technical knowledge and 73% had not the same problem. Most of the farmer (49%) preferred culturing of Shrimp/ Prawn, Tilapia (18%), Carp polyculture (7%), Pangash (12%), Shingh (5%) and Koi (9%). For any types of technical support 7% farmers went to the Government fisheries officers, 4% to the local/NGOs experts, 47% drug and chemicals shopkeeper/sales persons, 27% to the hatchery personnel and 15% to the seed traders. About 67% people said it as profitable, 12% said non-profitable and 21% people said that as the risky business. As most of the people like and believe the fish culture is profitable, it is therefore essential to provide the necessary training facilities with institutional and organizational supports, credit facilities and extension services for sustainable fish production of fish farmers. This study also revealed that fish farmers needs more training for acquaintance them with modern management technology. Keywords - Fish culture, management status, khulna district, Bangladesh