The World's Largest Mangrove Fishery at Risk: Status, Vulnerabilities, and Strategies for Sustainable Management

The Bangladesh Sundarbans, the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest, supports one of the country's most productive coastal fisheries while providing essential ecosystem services and livelihoods for coastal communities. However, increasing environmental and anthropogenic pressures threaten the long‐term sustainability of its fisheries. This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to evaluate the status of the Sundarbans fisheries, identify major natural and human‐induced threats, and synthesize evidence for sustainable management. Of the 76 publications identified, 34 met the predefined inclusion criteria and were retained for qualitative synthesis. The review identified a highly diverse fishery comprising 322 fish species belonging to 217 genera and 96 families. The inshore fishery contributes 80.57% of Bangladesh's marine capture fisheries and supports the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 fishers. Monthly catches ranged from 3.45 to 6.62 kg and exceeded the estimated maximum sustainable yield (MSY; 4.61 kg) during several months, while declining catch per unit effort (CPUE) indicated increasing exploitation pressure. The principal threats to fisheries sustainability include climate change, habitat degradation, destructive fishing practices, shrimp post‐larvae harvesting, unsustainable shrimp aquaculture, pollution, siltation, salinity intrusion, and sea‐level rise. Collectively, the reviewed evidence indicates that fisheries decline is driven by the cumulative interaction of multiple climatic and anthropogenic stressors rather than by individual threats acting in isolation. This review provides the first integrated synthesis of fisheries resources, environmental stressors, and management interventions for the Bangladesh Sundarbans, highlighting the need for ecosystem‐based fisheries management and long‐term ecological monitoring to sustain biodiversity, fisheries productivity, and coastal livelihoods under future environmental change.