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A value chain analysis is a detailed description of all the activities and services needed to turn a raw product into a marketable good for delivery to final consumers. The mud crab business is considered by most marketing operators to be a profitable and viable business due to the high demand in the international market. Despite the importance of mud crab fishery, there is no structured marketing facilities in Bangladesh. This research aim to analyze the socioeconomic condition of actors, the profitability of farming, mapping the institutional and non-institutional barriers, and provide a better understanding of the possibility of technological interventions in the value chain. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through participatory rural appraisal tools that include 200 individual interviews, 16 focus group discussions, and 24 key informant interviews conducted in south-west Bangladesh from July to December of 2019. The mud crab value chain analysis revealed that the chain started with crab collection (cultivated and wild harvest), before sale to local vendors, and ended with exporters through several intermediaries. Results noted that most (±95%) exportable crab came from natural sources, with rest (±5%) from aquaculture sector. The average price (USD/kg) ranged from $10.59−14.12 and $12.94−19.42 for male crabs (grade: XXL), followed by $10.00−11.77 and $11.77−17.06 for female (grade: FF1) in domestic and international markets, respectively. Despite the high profitability of these sectors, the livelihood of these stakeholders has remained relatively hard. Multi-pronged approaches, like a nursery or increasing farming and backyard seed production, and possible value addition at the farm level may help farmers.

By employing empirical and secondary data (qualitative and quantitative), this study demonstrates how social equity (with its three dimensions) can meaningfully address the conservation of the coastal social–ecological system (SES), without losing diverse ecosystem services (ES) in south-east coastal Bangladesh. Based on this proposition, this study assesses the available ES and identifies the drivers responsible for ES changes, arguing for the application of social equity for resource conservation. The findings show that communities along Bangladesh’s south-eastern coast use several ES for food, medicine, income, livelihoods, and cultural heritage. However, this valuable ecosystem is currently experiencing numerous threats and stressors of anthropogenic and natural origin. In particular, large-scale development activities, driven by the blue growth agenda, and neoliberalism policy, pose a risk to the local communities by degrading coastal ecosystem services. Escaping this situation for coastal natural resource-dependent communities in Bangladesh will require a transformation in the governance structure. Implementing the Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) Guidelines that call for initiating policy change to deliver social justice to small-scale fisheries would help to address coastal ecosystem service conservation in Bangladesh.