Frozen fish exporters seek govt help

FE Team | Published: December 19, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Monira Munni Frozen fish exporters have sought government's assistance for launching cultivation of vannamei -- a new variety of shrimp -- aiming to raise production and earn a billion dollars a year. They said if they can successfully start cultivation of the new variety of shrimp, they would be able to raise the production three times more and foreign currency earning will reach $ 1.0 billion in a year. But due to government's apathy to allow cultivation of this shrimp, the country is being deprived of earning over a billion dollars in exports a year, they added. According to Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA), 32 countries including India, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have increased shrimp production through cultivating white shrimp thus raising their foreign exchange earnings. "Some 90 per cent of the shrimp cultivated globally is vannamei which is tasty, highly productive and disease preventive," President of BFFEA Kazi Shahnewaz told the FE. Despite repeated requests to the government to start farming of white shrimp, they did not get any positive response in this connection. "We have repeatedly requested the government to launch this variety in the country as the white spot syndrome virus has not been found in it anywhere in the world until now. But our authorities do not pay heed to our request," Mr Shahnewaz said. "Last week we requested the government seeking permission for collecting and farming of the new species so that study and research on the new variety could be made under a pilot project," Managing Director of Amam Sea Food Industries Ltd S Humayun Kabir said. He said that the countries which cultivate white shrimp can produce more than 1,000 kilogramme (kg) of it on per hectare of land, whereas production of the traditional shrimp (Bagdha) in Bangladesh is only around 200 kg per hectare. Bangladesh earned around US$ 625 million through export of shrimp whereas India earned over $ 1.0 billion, Vietnam $ 1.2 billion and even Thailand earned about three times more than that of Bangladesh during the fiscal year (FY) 2010-11. India has raised its production by 19 per cent in the current fiscal year mainly because of vannamei farming, BFFEA Director Shahadat Ali Khan said. If the government allows us to cultivate the variety, we can raise our production three times more in the first year without preparing the present land, he said adding that the production will be manifold by extensive improved cultivation. According to Intrafish Media - the leading international source for seafood news -320 Philippines fishermen recently underwent training in vannamei farming to prepare them to commence this new industry there. Vannamei is expected to be one of the top aquaculture commodities in the country in the next few years and ninety per cent of the tiger prawn growers there have shifted to vannamei cultivation, it said.