This past World Fisheries Day, on 21st November 2025, I had the privilege of attending a global forum that brought into focus the often-overlooked inland fisheries. Organized by TBTI Global, the webinar brought together researchers, students, government officials, and representatives from various national, regional, and global organizations.
The book ‘The Beauty and the Bounty at Risk’ is the first e-book on small-scale fisheries in Nepal, offering insights of different aspects of the small-scale fisheries such as fishing technology, socio-economics, environmental issues, and governance.
Join us for the celebration of inland small-scale fisheries on the 2025 World Fisheries Day.
This year, Nepal celebrated the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in a grand way with cultural parades, exhibitions, and programs supported by national and international organizations, including FAO and UNESCO. These events honoured the diversity of our Indigenous heritage, from language to land stewardship.
Young Futures” is a call to youth around the world, inviting them to express their thoughts and ideas about the future of the ocean, the fisheries, the coast, the communities and the society that they are part of. Check out the TBTI Nepal contribution for the ‘Young Futures’ call for 2025 World Day of Social Justice.
The International Conference on Aquaculture and Fisheries (ICAF) 2024 was held under the theme ‘Blue Revolution for Healthy People, Economy, and Environment.’ One of the highlights of the conference was the announcement of the TBTI e-book series, The Beauty and Bounty at Risk, the first book dedicated to small-scale fisheries in Nepal.
Special message from Tek B. Gurung and Ranju Ghimire, TBTI Nepal hub coordinators for 2024 World Fisheries Day.
Special message from Thaneswar Bhandari and Nelson Pokhrel from TBTI Nepal for 2024 World Fisheries Day.
Special message from Prof. Sunila Rai, co-editor of the upcoming TBTI Nepal e-book.
The book ‘The Beauty and the Bounty at Risk’ is the first e-book on small-scale fisheries in Nepal. This book has twenty-nine stories of fishes, fisheries and fishers of Nepal, which are written by experts, early career scientists and students of the B.Sc. Fisheries and M.Sc. Fisheries in the Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur... The book offers insights of different aspects of the small-scale fisheries such as fishing technology, socio-economics, environmental issues, and governance. It has covered fisheries in different water mass, both stagnant (lake, pond, reservoir, wetland) and running water (river, stream), and cold-water and warm-water from mid hills and Terai (plain area). The book also highlights cross cutting issues such as women empowerment, climate change and its impacts on aquatic biodiversity, and the need for conservation. Finally, the book explores the challenges, opportunities and visions, which are useful for future development of fisheries. I believe that the book will be helpful to draw the attention of policy makers and researchers, and promote sustainable, equitable and resilient fisheries in the country.
Professor of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal
It has been a joy to work with the editors in the production of the ebook, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with them and the authors, in keeping the stories about inland fisheries in Nepal alive in everyone’s mind. Now that we know about the history and the experience of fishers, their practices and livelihood, and policy, governance and welfare, from reading the book, we can think about what we can do individually and collectively to help promote the importance and values of inland fisheries in Nepal, and elsewhere.”
Ratana Chuenpagdee
TBTI Global
The book is available for free, as an e-book in two sizes: smaller (15MB) and larger (200MB).
Click on the buttons below to download the e-book.
The International Conference on Aquaculture and Fisheries (ICAF) was held on 23-25 October, 2024 at the Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. Organized under the theme ‘Blue Revolution for Healthy People, Economy, and Environment’, the three-day conference brought together fisheries scientists, academics, professionals, students, and fish farmers to exchange knowledge, ideas, information, and technologies. National and international participants shared their findings on the social, technological, economic, biological, conservation, and environmental aspects of fisheries sciences.
One of the highlights of the conference was the announcement of the TBTI e-book series, The Beauty and Bounty at Risk, the first book dedicated to small-scale fisheries in Nepal. The announcement was made by TBTI Hub coordinators, accompanied by a proposal presentation by Dr. Tek B. Gurung titled, Proposing Big in Small-Scale Fisheries to Establish Too Big to Ignore Hub in Landlocked Countries. This innovative concept, which introduces a socio-environmental perspective to small-scale fisheries, captured the attention of senior delegates at the event.
Dr. Tek Gurung is involved in Corus International, a humanitarian INGO as well as in Agriculture & Forestry University an Adjunct Professor. He had served as Executive Director of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council. He has received International Kasumigaura Lake Prize for demonstrating a concept of large cooperative approach to restore degraded lakes and was awarded with NABIL prize from Nepal Academy of Science & Technology for developing trout farming industry. He has also served to Sri Lanka as aquaculture consultants. Dr. Gurung has been a Fulbright Scholar in Missouri-Columbia University USA & obtained Doctor of Science degree from Kyoto University.
Ranju Ghimire is an active member of the Too Big To Ignore (TBTI) Nepal Hub, committed to promoting the recognition and resilience of small-scale fisheries. She holds an M.Sc. Fisheries (Aquatic Resources) degree from Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal. Her post-study work encompasses editing ‘The Beauty and the Bounty at Risk’ e-book , developing content on fisherfolk livelihoods, fishery digitalization and advocacy for small-scale fisheries. Known for her sound coordination and editorial skills, she remains dedicated to building inclusive networks for small-scale fisheries at university and national levels.
Thaneshwar Bhandari is a doctoral fellow who is specializing in fishery industry value chain analysis, with research focusing on fishery hubs in Nepal and coastal regions in India. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Mr. Bhandari has completed two master degrees in Agricultural Economics and Rural Development disciplines. The latest one degree that Mr. Bhandari has earned is International MSc in Rural Development (IMRD) from Ghent University Belgium in 2010 under grant award of the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. Mr. Bhandari has 15 years of university teaching experience in Nepal and over a decade of experience in agricultural development with government organizations, German Technical Cooperation (GIZ), and NGOs.
Nelson Pokharel is a fisheries and aquaculture expert with extensive experience in research, development, and extension services. She holds an MSc in Agriculture (Aquaculture) from Tribhuvan University. She is currently on leave from government service, pursuing a PhD at the Kathmandu University. Her research interests encompass aquaculture development, fish health management, and indigenous fish conservation. Nelson has served in multiple leadership roles within Nepal’s agricultural and fisheries sector. She currently serves as the Section Chief of the Fisheries Department at the Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries Development, Koshi Province, overseeing aquaculture development across 14 districts. Her responsibilities include program planning, indigenous fish farming, hatchery management, pond expansion, and riverine fisheries studies.
