COX'S BAZAR, Dec 07: About 0.2 million sterile flies have been released on Sonadia island of Cox's Bazar in a plan to eradicate wild flies which are harmful for dry fish.
According to scientists, these sterile flies produced in the laboratory will breed with the wild flies meaning they cannot reproduce. This method is environment-friendly, and will make it possible to produce non-toxic and safe dry fishes, they said.
A team of scientists led by Head of the Department of Radiation Entomology and Spider Science at the Institute of Food and Radiation Biology of the Atomic Energy Research Institute ATM Faizul Islam released the sterile flies on Sonadia island recently.
At that time, the Head of the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) Marine Fisheries and Technology Center Shafiqur Rahman, Senior Scientific Officers of Radiation Entomology and Spider Science Muhsina Yasmin, and Md Shahinur Islam, and Scientific Officer Mosharraf Hossain, among others, were present.
Hasmat Ullah, a local dry fish producer, said that sterile flies were released on Sonadia island in 2007 to reduce the infestation of harmful flies. "That reduced the infestation of harmful flies significantly. The production and quality of dry fishes also increase if wild flies are controlled," he added.
Nur Hossain, another local dried fish producer, described the benefits of sterile flies, saying that it was possible to produce pesticide-free and healthy dried fish on Sonadia island that year (2007). "The price of dry fish doubled that year. I hope the production and quality dry fish will increase a lot this season due to the release of these infertile flies," he added.
The government has taken initiative to increase the production of dry fish in Cox's Bazar by controlling flies using this sterilisation technology, said Faizul Islam, Head of the Department of Radiation Entomology and Spider Science at the Institute of Food and Radiation Biology.
To this end, a laboratory and a technology centre have been set up at the Beach Mineral sand Extraction Center in Cox's Bazar's Kalatali, he added.
Scientists believe that it is possible to increase the production of dry fish by about one-third every year by using this environmentally friendly and safe technology invented by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.
Bangladesh produces around 1.2 million tonnes of marine and freshwater every year. About 15 per cent of the fish are dried in the sun and converted into dry fish.
However, when the fish is dried in the sun, about 30 per cent of them is spoilt by the attack of a harmful fly called Leucinia Capria. Nazirartekei, the country's largest dry fish producer, loses around Tk 1 billion every year.
To get rid of the harmful effects of these flies, dry fish producers normally apply fish poison or extra salt which causes serious harm both for the consumer and the producer.
For this, the quality of dry fish is decreasing and production cost is increasing, alleged some dry fish producers.
Considering all these, the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission has invented the technology to control harmful insects of dry fish through 'fly sterilisation method', said researcher Dr ATM Faizul Islam.
He said that by using this technology, it is possible to reduce the reproduction of harmful flies and increase the production and quality of dried fish.
"This method is environmentally friendly, sustainable, easy and self-sufficient. It will make it possible to produce non-toxic and safe dry fishes. It is possible to earn a lot of foreign currency by exporting this non-toxic and safe dried fishes abroad, the researcher added.
Faizul also said this technology is a kind of birth control method. In this method, the lineage of harmful flies gradually decreases. "However, this method should be applied after every two months," he added.
According to scientists, four species of flies are found in Sonadia and Nazirartek. Of these, only Leucinia Caprina flies spoil dry fishes by laying their eggs on them.
This species of fly is caught from the wild environment and mass production is done in a controlled environment in the laboratory.
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