Environment, Development and Sustainability

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00599-z

Blue technology for sustainability of small and medium fish

firms: a study on small and medium fish firms of Bangladesh

Md. Nur Alam1 · Imtiaz Masroor2   · Talim Md. Rokon3 · Shaikh Golam Rakib2

Received: 16 April 2019 / Accepted: 11 January 2020

© Springer Nature B.V. 2020

Abstract
Sustainability in business is a buzzword in the modern era which promptly became the target for
small and medium firms to remain profitable in the long run. Small and medium fish firms can
attain sustainability by successfully adopting blue technology by showing a new way of doing
things. This study examined the influence of institutional activities in fisheries (IAF) on perception
of blue technology adoption (BTA) and the sustainability of small and medium fish firms (SF).
This study also examined how the components of ‘Blue Technology’ influence the sustainability
of small- and medium-scale fisheries in Bangladesh. The data were collected from 101 small and
medium fish farmers with self-administered questionnaire using direct field survey. The research
found that BTA has strong and positive relationship with SF, while the IAF has weak but positive
relationship with BTA and SF. It is also found that fish farmers intended to adopt blue technolo-
gies if they see profitability in it. Governmental policy and government’s influence on the farmers
were found less effective though farmers’ expectation from government was high.

Keywords  Blue technology · Fish farming · Sustainability · Profitability · Government

policy

* Imtiaz Masroor
masroor.imti@gmail.com
Md. Nur Alam
kinku_ku@yahoo.com
Talim Md. Rokon
tm.rokon@gmail.com
Shaikh Golam Rakib
srakib21@gmail.com
1
Business Administration Discipline, Management and Business Administration School, Khulna
University, Khulna ‑ 9208, Bangladesh
2
Department of Business Administration, Northern University of Business & Technology Khulna,
Akunjee Tower, 41 ‑ 42, Mojid Sharani, Shib Bari Circle, Sonadanga, Khulna ‑ 9100, Bangladesh
3
Padma Salt Crushing Ind. (Pvt.) Ltd, Khulna, Bangladesh

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1 Introduction

Fish and fisheries have been an integral part in the life of Bangladeshi people from very
ancient times (Flowra et  al. 2013). Nearly, 3.69% of total GDP’s contribution solely
comes from the fisheries sector (BBS 2017). Unfortunately, the assets of sea and inland
waters have been decreasing rapidly because of pollution, overfishing, destruction of man-
grove, climate change and acidification of ocean. At the same time, meeting the need of
over growing population, reliability on the fisheries both from inland and ocean is rapidly
increasing (Shamsuzzaman et al. 2017). In order to capitalize the full potential of the sea
and inland water sources, it needs a shift in its paradigm to accept a new, creditworthy and
sustainable approach which is more socially, economically and environmentally effective.
Concerning this, incorporation of the concept of ‘Blue Economy’ can play an effective role
(Hasan et al. 2018).
The ‘Blue Economy’ (BE) conceptualizes oceans and seas as ‘development spaces’.
Blue economy integrates special planning and sustainable use of living resources along
with bio-prospecting, conservation, oil and mineral extraction, marine transport and sus-
tainable energy production (Patil et al. 2018). The BE method is based on the incorpora-
tion and assessment of the real value of the natural (blue) capital into all phases of eco-
nomic activity. These activities include renewable resource exploitation, planning, trade,
infrastructure development, energy production/consumption and conceptualization (Hasan
et al. 2018; Patil et al. 2018). The BE approach ensures the contribution of its principles,
ideas and norms towards nutrition security, poverty eradication, climate change adoption
and sustainable food or healthy livelihoods generation (Hussain et  al. 2018). Under the
umbrella of the BE, aquaculture can contribute towards the value of the natural capital in
its development without harming ecological arguments throughout the cycle of production.
Aquaculture does this job by offering high-value commodities even for export and creating
sustainable employment opportunities. Aquaculture refers to the breeding and rearing of
fishes and plants in ponds or in a controlled environment for direct harvesting of the prod-
uct. It has come to a great augment to the deteriorating marine fish production worldwide
(Muir and Nugent 1995). Focusing towards the developing countries where fish farming
has been heavily supported by international donor agencies and governments, aquaculture
is seen to have a strong possibility to put up to the livelihood improvement of people and
poverty alleviation. Along with this, aquaculture as a BE approach has become the fastest
growing food sector now (FAO 2010), and it is assumed that soon it would exceed the cap-
ture fisheries as the main source of this protein.
Aquaculture is a way of affirming BE which produces various economic and social
benefits for millions of people around the world. Aquaculture possesses the possibility to
increase its contribution towards economic growth and sustainable development. There-
fore, the adoption of blue technology (e.g. aquaculture) in fish farming poses itself as cru-
cial. The concept of blue technology is a novel one (Kathijotes and Sekhniashvili 2017) and
new technology adoption seems to be dependent on its relative advantage. But, linking the
institutions who deal directly and indirectly with the aquaculture or blue technology issues
poses several challenges. Farmers often are restrained from the adoption of new (blue)
technology due to inadequate information concerning this. Lack of sound communications
(e.g. road or transports) may separate the farmers from the source of information. The level
of education of a farmer has been also categorized as a household-specific factor for a blue
technology adoption. For fish farmers, not adopting new (blue) technology or sticking to
old practices may happen for economic reasons in the sense that the cost of innovation and

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Blue technology for sustainability of small and medium fish…

related risk may be beyond the reach of many farmers. Farmers who can take the risks need
assurance and constant visits from related officials. In this scenario, government and other
institutions can play a vital role in resolving the challenges through setting up policies and
working with different organizations to adopt blue technology which can ensure sustain-
ability in fisheries sector.
Following the seminal work of North (1990, 1991) and Williamson (1975, 1985, 1998),
institutions are frequently demarcated as the ‘rules of the game’. In an attempt to illumi-
nate the mechanisms determining behaviour or the concept of institution, Nelson and Sam-
pat (2001) and Nelson (2008) conceptually disaggregated ‘institution’ into three parts: (a)
social technologies, (b) physical technologies and (c) supporting institutions. Social tech-
nologies refer to the way the work is divided and coordinated to facilitate the use of a
generic knowledge/technology or physical technologies. ‘Physical’ and ‘social’ technol-
ogy co-evolve and are moulded with the help of supportive institutions like value systems,
culture, existing laws, expectations, norms, mechanisms, customary modes of transacting
and governing structures (Iizuka and Katz 2015). According to Nelson and Sampat (2001),
these three components can determine the behaviour of firms/actors altogether. Hence,
it is found in the extant literature that the institution can play a pivotal role in shaping
the behaviour or perception of the farmers. This modified perception of the firms/farm-
ers, which is induced by the different policies adopted by the institutions, can lead them
to sustainable farming in turn. Fisheries policy needs to be integrated not only in manag-
ing natural resources, but also the social problems linked with certain economic strategies
(Rizal and Nurruhwati 2019). If the policies adopted by the institutions are embedded in
the development of fish farmers, it will certainly aid them to achieve sustainability in the
long run.
As sustainability is the development of resources for human use which alters natural
ecosystems, the concepts of sustainability are connected to ‘sustainable development’
greatly (Hilborn et  al. 2015). Fisheries resources face various challenges that threatens
seriously to sustainability goals (Ghorbanian and Zibaei 2019) regardless of the numerous
contributions and opportunities offered by fisheries resources to welfare of human (Sumaila
2010). Processes of economic development are increasingly placing pressure on the envi-
ronment as well as on natural resources (Nauen 2008). Addressing sustainability in fisher-
ies poses challenge that must be overcome as sustainable development holds the long-term
future of societies and industries together (Quartey and Wells 2018). Long-term produc-
tive capacity and natural resources need to be rehabilitated or conserved where required.
Hence, the main goal of most governmental and non-governmental organizations should be
attaining sustainability, and these fisheries resources need to be taken care of by means of
sustainable management (Al-Masroori and Bose 2011). According to Paramanathan et al.
(2004), sustainability increases collaborations by encouraging industries to communicate
with various stakeholders who are involved in value and supply chain activities. It has now
become the standard for assessing the economic, social and environmental performance
(Labuschagne et  al. 2005). Environmental sustainability practices certify that the natural
environment is well-protected and preserved to flourish continuously (Meadowcroft 2000).
Sustainability in fisheries sector, more specifically the inland or ‘Gher’ fisheries in
coastal region of Bangladesh, has been examined in this paper. Coastal aquaculture in
Bangladesh is ruled by shrimp production that has grown for the last 30 years in response
to increased world demand for food (Ahmed et  al. 2010). In spite of the huge economic
potential in this sector, the unregulated and unplanned expansion of ‘Ghers’ across the
large land areas has led to serious environmental hazards and risks the sustainable devel-
opment of the fishing industry (Ahmed and Diana 2015; Rahman et  al. 2017). Evidence

13
 M. N. Alam et al.

points out that in many fields, fisheries management is failing (Ogunremi and Oladele
2012). In Bangladesh, many debate that the negative effects of ‘Gher’ farming outweigh
the possible gains, and that it runs opposite to the concept of sustainable development.
Therefore, adopting the blue initiatives in the ‘Gher’ is essential to facilitate the policies
aimed to improve sustainability of this industry. Despite having lots of studies on technol-
ogy adoption (Girard and Payrat 2017; Ogunremi and Oladele 2012; Olaoye et al. 2016;
Richardson and Suvedi 2018; Singas and Manus 2014) in fisheries sectors (Doyle 2018;
Spalding 2016; Hussain et  al. 2018), very few studies can be found on the aspects and
sustainability of blue technology adoption (BTA). So, here lies the opportunity to further
explore whether the fish farmers are eager to adopt the ‘blue technology’ and its effect on
the sustainability of the firm. But there is hardly enough work found that relate the BE con-
cepts with inland fisheries (particularly in case of ‘Ghers’). The main aim of this research
is to determine the BTA behaviour of the fisheries people and the influence of institutional
activities on this adoption behaviour and on the sustainability of fisheries in Khulna, the
coastal region of Bangladesh.

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Proposed model and hypothesis

The adoption and development of better technologies play critical role in improving the
welfare and productivity of low-income farmers in countries who possess limited resources
(Sall et al. 2000). New technology adoption depends on several factors which include cost
of the technology, output gained from a perceived technology, adaptive mentality of the
farmers, risk taking ability, etc. Kroma (2003) has found that there is a big gap between
adoption of new technologies by small-scale farmers and households in rural areas and
technologies produced in research institutions. The rate of adoption depends on the per-
ceived characteristic of the innovation or technology (Rogers and Shoemaker 1971) which
is often influenced by the institutional activities. Institutional activities in fisheries could
be seen from standpoints of government policy, regulation, information availability and
loan procedure. Thus, in fisheries sector, a common reason behind the failure of aquacul-
ture development as an approach of blue technology has been an over-emphasis on dem-
onstrating technologies without attention to institutional activities. So, the challenge is to
provide adequate resources and incentives to adapt and implement these technologies at
local/national level and ensuring institutional activities by dint of political commitment and
through building necessary institutes that lead to the adoption of the new technologies.
Apart from blue technology adoption and institutional activities, another issue is the
sustainability in fisheries where sustainability could be described aspects of ecology, soci-
ety and economy, institution and community. In addition, concerning sustainability in
fisheries, the blue economy concept has been developing during recent years as a rising
prototype for the sustainable management of natural maritime and freshwater resources.
Application of technology is also gaining even further visibility and importance within the
framework of the post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 2
(ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition, and promoting sustain-
able agriculture).
Considering the previous literatures, blue technology adoption, institutional activities
and sustainability seem to be interlinked. Therefore, the hypotheses were constructed like:

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Blue technology for sustainability of small and medium fish…

Institutional activities in fisheries (IAF) have positive influence on the sustainability

of small and medium fish firms (SF) (H1).
Institutional activities in fisheries (IAF) have positive influence on the perception
towards blue technology adoption (BTA) (H2).
Perception towards blue technology adoption (BTA) has a positive impact on sustain-
ability of small and medium fish firms (SF) (H3).
The hypotheses ponder upon the impact of blue technology adoption on the fish
farmers’ sustainability, government’s influence on the technology adoption and govern-
ment’s influence on the sustainable fisheries. Hypotheses derived from the literature are
tested, and the research model (Fig. 1) depicts the relationship among the constructs of
the derived hypotheses from the above review.

2.2 Population and sample

This research has taken the fisheries people in Khulna region as the entities of interest
or population. More specifically, it consists of the owner of the aquaculture facilities
and ‘Ghers’ of Khulna (a district of south-western part of Bangladesh). This region is
known for diversified range of crops and abundant production of fish from its canals,
ponds and rivers. Though due to carrying heavy silt, rivers of this region lose their natu-
ral flow and which is one of the reasons behind the declination of fish species. For this
study, the survey had been done by a self-administered and structured questionnaire. For
most of the instruments utilized in the questionnaire, five-point Likert scale is used for
both dependent and independent variables. In some responses, ‘Strongly Disagree’ is
coded as 1 or the lowest explaining the highest disagreement with the statement in the
line of fire, whereas 5 denotes ‘Strongly Agree’ which refers to the maximum level of
agreement with the statement given. Before the final survey, a pilot survey was rendered
on several fish farmers, and their responses were found to be spontaneous. The sample
size of this study is 101 which was collected using non-probability sampling technique.

Fig. 1  Conceptual model

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 M. N. Alam et al.

2.3 Measurement of constructs

Blue technology adoption is taken as independent variable in this study. Several indicators are
used to measure technology adoption behaviour of people which is proposed by Vyas et al.
(2009) and Peterson (2000). Assessing sustainability may involve two related phases:

1. Assessing the status of the existing system and,

2. Anticipating the future status of the proposed system.

The elements of sustainability described above can be refined to give a sustainability

checklist and indicator that would highlight the trouble spots and desired result in the fishery.
Sustainability indicators could take several forms. Ecological sustainability indicators devel-
oped by Charles (1994) implies maintaining the resource base at level that do not close future
options and enhancing quality, resilience and capacity. Now, beside ecological aspect, the
socio-economic sustainability could be explained as it focuses on the macro-level on enhanc-
ing or maintaining overall welfare across the system under observation. Hence, the social and
economic criteria involved are closely linked in the process of policy formulation (Charles
1994). These indicators are based on a mix of related social and economic indicators such
as net benefits, distributional equity, viability within global economies and local community.
This study takes the model developed by Charles (1994) to measure these variables. The inter-
vening variable institutional activities in fisheries’ co-relation with BTA and sustainability in
fisheries are measured using indicators developed by Symes (2007).

2.4 Analytical approach

The study employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to evaluate the relationships between
constructs and predictive power of the research model (Acedo and Jones 2007). SmartPLS 2.0
M3 (Ringle et al. 2005) was used in this study to measure the relationships among variables.
The PLS technique is more practical to a study when theory is insufficiently grounded, and the
variables or measures do not conform to a rigorously specified measurement model, or fit a cer-
tain distribution (Fornell and Bookstein 1982, p. 311; Masroor et al. 2020).
The analysis and interpretation of a PLS model are divided into two stages: firstly, the reli-
ability and validity of the measurement model is evaluated using indicators’ factor loadings,
average variance explained (AVE) and composite reliability (CR), and secondly, the structural
model itself is assessed (Acedo and Jones 2007). This two-stage sequence ensures that the
constructs are measured validly and reliably before drawing any conclusions regarding rela-
tionships between constructs (Barclay et al. 1995). The items having a factor loading below
0.708 is dropped for better analysis as this is the cut-off criteria (Hair et al. 2019). Table 1
shows that the value of AVE is greater than 0.50, and the value of CR is greater than 0.70
which claims that the measurement model is reliable and valid.

Table 1  Measurement model AVE CR

analysis
IAF 0.5395 0.775
SF 0.5000 0.890
PBT 0.5000 0.880

IS Institutional activities in fisheries, SF Sustainability in fisheries,

PBT Perception towards blue technology

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Blue technology for sustainability of small and medium fish…

3 Results and discussions

3.1 Analysis and findings

The sample of this study was diverse in nature as it contains diverse characteristics in terms
of age of the respondents, size of the firm, location of the firm, sources of finance, age of
the firm, etc. No female respondents were found during survey, which is evident from the
101 male respondents; thus, it seems that very few females are interested in aquaculture.
The respondents come from varied age groups. The age ranges from 18 to 65 years. Most
of the respondents belong to 35–45 years of age, and about 7% of the respondents are of
50 years of age, and most of the respondents (18%) are of 45 years of age.
Concerning financing, fish farmers use various sources. More than 60% of the respond-
ents stated that at the very beginning, they started the business with their own small capi-
tal, and this financing mainly came from their families. About 26% of the respondents took
bank loans or small loans to start fish farming, and about only 5% started farming with
granted aid or from other sources. In terms of ownership, the majority of the respondents
took leases from ‘Mahajan’ (Owners) while some of them possess own farms or Ghers.
Most of the farms did not have any employees but employees are required during the
‘catch’ of the farms; thus, most of the employees are seasonal workers.
The result in Table 2 shows that for IAF -> PBT, beta is positive (β = 0.506) which indi-
cates PBT is expected to be increased by 0.506, if there is an increase of 1 unit of IS. R2
which is also called as the coefficient of determination tells the proportion of the variance
in the dependent variable that can be explained in the variance in independent variable
(Chin 1998). Here, R2 is 0.256; thus, 25.6% of the variation in different perception towards
BTA can be explained by institutional activities in fisheries. Also, from Table 2, we can see
that the significance value is less than the level of significance. So, alternative hypothesis is
accepted and null hypothesis is not supported.
For PBT -> SF, beta is 0.682 which means SF is expected to be increased by 0.682 if there
is an increase of 1 unit of PBT. In this case, the calculated p value is less than the level of sig-
nificance; so the null hypothesis cannot be accepted. Again, in case of IAF -> SF, β is 0.273
which indicates that sustainability in fisheries is expected to be increased by 0.273 if there is
an increase of 1 unit of institutional activities in fisheries. Here, R2 is 0.728; thus, 72.8% of the
variation in sustainability in fisheries can be explained by institutional activities in fisheries. It
can also be found that the calculated p value is 0.00001 which is way below the level of signif-
icance taken in this study. Thus, alternative hypothesis can safely be accepted, and supporting
null hypothesis is found to be statistically insignificant.
The Sobel test was used to measure mediation effect. The Sobel test examines the signifi-
cance of a mediation. In mediation effect, the relation between independent and dependent

Table 2  Structural model validity Paths β R2 Sig. Hypothesis

IAF -> PBT 0.506 0.256 0.00001 Null rejected

PBT -> SF 0.682 – 0.00001 Null rejected
IAF -> SF 0.273 0.728 0.00001 Null rejected

IS Institutional activities in fisheries, SF Sustainability in fisheries;

PBT Perception towards blue technology

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 M. N. Alam et al.

variable is assumed to be affected indirectly due to a mediator or third variable (perception

towards blue technology adoption for this study).
The Sobel test stays mainly as a specialized t test which offers a way to govern whether
the decline in the effect of independent variable, after involving the mediator in the model,
remains as a significant reduction and consequently whether the mediation effect stands statis-
tically significant or not (Yay 2016). Here, the significance of the mediation effect was tested
using Sobel test and which is found as significant (p < 0.05) as shown in Table 3.

4 Discussions

The first hypothesis (H1) assumes that institutional activities in fisheries have influence on the
sustainability of fisheries. It is found in this study that the independent intervening variable
institutional activities in fisheries are positively related with the sustainability of fisheries. As
the fish cultivation is constantly threatened by many external factors, farmers have to increase
their sustainability by doing the farming in innovative ways. Without trying new ways, none
can survive in the long run in this adversely changing world. In this regard, it is evident that
the fish farmers require tremendous support from different institutions like the Government,
NGOs, etc. Implementing innovative ways of doing things require a lot of funding which the
fish farmers generally lack. Most of the fish farmers are not solvent enough to buy the gears
and tools needed to cultivate the fish in new ways. Government can arrange for short-term
loans with low interests. Some NGOs provide loans to the farmers but their interest rate is too
high for the farmers to repay. Furthermore, water is the most significant element in fish cul-
tivation which the fish farmers cannot control at all where the institutional activities can have
impact. Pumping water from the rivers or canals are the only sources of water for the farmers
which can be done by dredging the rivers. Fingerlings are the second most important com-
ponent for sustainable fisheries after water. If the fingerlings are defective, the final outcome
cannot be expected to be better. The quality of fingerlings from the hatcheries are not prop-
erly maintained which in turn results in unsustainable fisheries. These defective poor-quality
fingerlings are cheap but their mortality rate is high. Government can monitor the fingerling
quality very closely to ensure that the farmers are getting a good quality fingerling to start their
cultivation with. So, from the abovementioned discussion, it can be inferred that institutional
activities in fisheries can have impact on the sustainability of fisheries.
In the second hypothesis (H2), it was posited that institutional activities in fisheries has
positive influence on the blue technology adoption. Institutional activities in fisheries have
mixed reaction regarding the blue technology adoption process. Governmental encourage-
ment to adopt new blue ways has a very low effect in the blue technology adoption process.
According to the respondents, Government only imposes new rules and regulations but
those imposed rules and regulations do not help to make it work. Adopting blue technolo-
gies have tons of long-term benefits. Consequently, farmers have to diversify and apply
new technologies as other countries are getting benefited by using new ways of fish cultiva-
tion. The climate of Bangladesh is unpredictable and ever changing. The traditional farms
become victim of nature every now and then. Blue technologies can help the farmers to be

Table 3  Sobel test result Test statistic Standard error p value

Sobel test 7.57305071 0.04556843 0.00000000

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Blue technology for sustainability of small and medium fish…

prepared against natural disasters. Different institutions can play a pivotal role in imple-
menting blue technology by the fish farmers by extending their supports. Institutions can
educate the farmers in a regular basis in order to prepare them to adopt the blue technol-
ogy. It is found that the farmers are generally unaware of the fact that blue technology
not only helps them to profit smartly but also it can help to develop ecological sustain-
ability. Also, unwillingness in adopting blue technology sometime arise from the lack of
financial resources where the institutions can prolong support by providing them with loan
with suitable conditions and sometimes by bringing the innovative technology to the fish
farmers. Therefore, it can be said that the institutional activities in fisheries have a positive
impact on the adoption on blue technology.
The last hypothesis (H3) assumes that there is a positive relationship between blue
technology adoption and sustainable fisheries. The findings point to the dependence of
fish farmers on the extension agents for information on fisheries technologies. The study
reveals that the majority of the fish farmers in the surveyed areas were eager to adopt the
recommended technologies of blue technology in a medium to high extent. Obinne (1991)
referred that if farmers increase the use extension agents as communication source, they
would adopt more of improved fisheries technologies. Most of the studies on the adoption
of technologies in fisheries indicated that new technology adoption brings greater produc-
tivity. As a result of more profit-earning possibility, farmers’ get more inclined to adopt
blue technology. If adoption of that technology is cheap to the farmers, this technology
adoption can bring sustainability. As blue technology includes doing works in a cheaper,
environmentally friendly and community resilient ways, it can also bring sustainability
to the fisheries people. Thus, it can be said that blue technology adoption has a positive
impact on the sustainability of fisheries.

5 Conclusion

The aim of this study was to find out the impact of adopting blue technologies in aqua-
cultures and its relation with the sustainability in fisheries along with institution’s/govern-
ment’s influence on blue technology adoption and its impact on the sustainability of fisher-
ies. There is direct link found in the technology adoption behaviour and sustainability of
fisheries. Consequently, proper authorities can introduce blue technology to the farmers,
and they will take it positively under certain conditions. And it is high time our fisheries
sectors tried something new as experts’ states, ‘Blue is the new future’.
All of the hypotheses taken in this study were accepted for having statistically signifi-
cant result. It has been found on this study that institutional activities taken by both formal
and informal institutions can promote the adoption of blue technology and boost the sus-
tainability of inland fisheries in Bangladesh. This study also posited by concurring with
the previous studies that new (blue) technology adoption by the fish farmers can help them
to create a sustainable environment and ecology. Bangladesh has scope and potentials for
adopting the blue technology but plenty of researches, strong political commitments, atti-
tude to optimize the dependency and societal awareness are obligatory to realize long-term
sustainability.
Further rigorous research is required to explore this area in order to implement this sus-
tainable development. Adoption of blue technology depends on many factors which need
to be carefully screened in the context of Bangladesh before trying to implement this. This
study was conducted using data collected in a short period of time; further exploration

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 M. N. Alam et al.

using longitudinal data might provide the researchers with better insights. A qualitative
study with the inland fish farmers might prove fruitful to find out the areas that need to be
improved in order to adopt the blue technology in the context of Bangladesh.

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