International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) provided technical assistance in aquaculture research since 1989 to Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and the NARS institutions, mainly Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), under Agricultural Research Project-II (Supplement) funded by USAID. Technical assistance included research planning, implementation of on-station and on-farm research, development of inter institutional linkages especially with NGOs and manpower development. Research concentrated on the development of low-cost culture systems which can easily be adopted by the rural poor. On-station experiments allowed technologies to be defined, suitable management strategies identified, and specific technical issues addressed. These were followed by on-farm trials which verified the viability of the technologies under farmers' conditions and gave valuable feedback on how they should be modified to fit farmers' circumstances and on other problems in the field. Fish culture efforts in Bangladesh remain limited by the scarcity in availability of fish seed, due mainly to high mortalities in nurseries. The nursery management practices developed at FRI resulted in increased survivals. These results need to be tested elsewhere in the country, then modified and disseminated as appropriate.