Govt to assess actual losses in fisheries sector

---

Doulot Akter Mala
The government has taken a move to assess the losses to the fisheries sector by the recent devastating cyclone Sidr, official sources said.
Chief advisers' office recently gave a directive to the ministry of fisheries and livestock for providing statistics on losses in the sector after consultations with all stakeholders.
Senior officials of the ministry are visiting Khulna to discuss with all concerned the matters relating to losses of the affected industries in the south and southwestern region, which was badly hit by the cyclone.
The ministry of fisheries and livestock officials will hold a meeting today (Saturday) with all stakeholders to estimate losses in the coastal shrimp farming areas.
After assessment of losses, the ministry will send the report to the CA office by next week for providing financial support, said a senior official of ministry and livestock.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and European Commission (EC) have already pledged financial support to the Sidr-affected farmers, he said.
Industry insiders said fisheries belt in Satkhira and Bagerhat have been badly affected as blocks of shrimp-bed were washed away.
Initially, the frozen foods industries estimated the loss to the sector at about Tk 4.5 billion, but the actual figure will only come out after making a complete assessment upon consultations with all the stakeholders, sources said.
When contacted, Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) president Kazi Belayet Hossain said: "We have only assessed the losses for our sector. This has excluded the losses suffered by the (shrimp) farmers."
The loss will be much higher if all areas under the fisheries sector, affected by the cyclone, are considered, he said.
By Thursday next, the BFFEA will submit its final report on losses at the ministry for forwarding it to the CA office, he said.
"We will hold meeting on Saturday (today) in Khulna with all the relevant stakeholders, including 'gher' (shrimp farming fields) owners," he said.
The industry owners held a series of meetings in the last few days with the government to discuss the extent of losses, Hossain said.
Exporters said December-January period is the major fishing time when the fishermen of Madaripur and Pirojpur get grown-up fresh water shrimps. But those shrimps have been destroyed as saline water entered into fresh water zone during the cyclonic storm.