The four south Asian nations of Bangladesh, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka are important players in the global fisheries arena. The contribution of the fisheries sector to their national economies is more than one per cent of their national GDPs. Fish and fish products are among the most heavily traded food commodities in the region. These nations are also members of a regional fisheries body, the Bay of Bengal Programme Inter- Governmental Organization (BOBP-IGO), previously known as the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP). Paper published in ‘Tomorrow Today’, Tudor Rose Publication, 2010.