Commercial pangas farming

At a time when there has been an emphasis on diversification of export basket, the country's fishery sector has not received the attention it deserves. But lately a move is on to add pangas or pangasius, a species of shark catfish, to the shrimp, the main export item of aquaculture. Bangladesh commercially produces the Thai variety of pangas which is reddish. Consumed locally, fillet from this variety has no demand abroad. But the white variety is in heavy demand in many countries including the United States of America (USA). In fact, pangas fillet has become the 10th most popular sea food in that country. Vietnam has become the leading producer and exporter of the white variety of panagasius, locally known as basa fish, taking advantage of industrial farming of the fish in the Mekong river. That South-east Asian country is projected to earn US$1.7 billion this year and this too even after a 4.0 per cent year-on-year drop in the export.

Introduction of this white variety of the fish to Bangladesh waters has already proved successful. Now is the time to inform farmers of producing it through aquaculture. Vietnam's approach to fish production and export has been highly organised and systematic. The decline in export this year is attributable to a number of reasons, the chief one being the drop in demand in the European Union (EU) market. To the advantage of Bangladesh, its rivers and tributaries will count. Even if the fish is cultured at the individual farmer's level in ponds, the fast breeding fish will prove highly economical. Importers from a number of western countries are very sensitive to the chemical substances present in fish like Pangas produced in the highly polluted Mekong river. Rivers in Bangladesh are no different. But pond-bred fish will have no such problem.

This is an area that has to be taken into account if commercial production and export of the fish is in question. Hormone injection, as complained by different quarters, is responsible for four times faster growth of the fish than in a natural condition. In a country where farmers are known to have taken the system of fattening bulls, in some cases, to such an extreme that it simply killed the cattle, there is a danger of abusing the artificial method of accelerating the growth rate of pangas. Better it would be to produce fingerlings under supervision in a strict regime and then distribute those among interested farmers for release in ponds or other water bodies.

In Vietnam, cage farming or culture of the fish has proved highly successful and economical. There is no reason why this should not be the case in Bangladesh as well. Clearly the prospect of aquaculture of this fish looks promising. But before embarking on the project the need is to organise the entire system into an industrial unit. Collection of fish from farmers and their processing into fillets will have to be perfected with help from appropriate technology. Anything short of this will not turn it into an industrial venture.