Fisheries dept, Asia Pacific regional body sign deal
Monday, 16 May 2011
FE Report
Department of Fisheries (DoF) and INFOFISH, an intergovernmental organisation in the Asia Pacific region, Sunday signed a project implementation agreement to pave the way for exporting Bangladesh's fresh water fishes and fish products. DoF director general Mahbubur Rahman Khan and INFOFISH director Muhammad Ayub signed the deal on behalf of their organisations at the launching ceremony of the project named 'Promotion of Processing and Marketing of Freshwater Fish Products' at a city hotel. INFOFISH is a Malaysia based intergovernmental organisation for marketing information and technical advisory services for fishery products in the Asia Pacific region. INFOFISH has taken a three-year pilot project titled 'Promotion of Processing and Marketing of Freshwater Fish Products' for Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The project will be funded by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Minister of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) Md Abdul Latif Biswas said as chief guest at the function, "Bangladesh has prospects for fish production as the taste and smell of these fish are better than that in many other countries. We have 4.57 hectares of wetland but the natural fish production is being hampered due to the effects of climate change and other factors," He said, the country has exported 77643 tonnes of fish worth Tk 34.08 billion in 2009-2010 and the export volume until April 10 this fiscal year was 79,457 tonnes worth Tk 37.10 billion. "Though the fish production is gradually increasing, we are still not able to export fishes like Tilapia and Pangasius catfish, carps and 'koi' or 'climbing perch' but they have a huge potential in the global market. We have to produce pollution-free fish and explore new markets."
Department of Fisheries (DoF) and INFOFISH, an intergovernmental organisation in the Asia Pacific region, Sunday signed a project implementation agreement to pave the way for exporting Bangladesh's fresh water fishes and fish products. DoF director general Mahbubur Rahman Khan and INFOFISH director Muhammad Ayub signed the deal on behalf of their organisations at the launching ceremony of the project named 'Promotion of Processing and Marketing of Freshwater Fish Products' at a city hotel. INFOFISH is a Malaysia based intergovernmental organisation for marketing information and technical advisory services for fishery products in the Asia Pacific region. INFOFISH has taken a three-year pilot project titled 'Promotion of Processing and Marketing of Freshwater Fish Products' for Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The project will be funded by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Minister of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) Md Abdul Latif Biswas said as chief guest at the function, "Bangladesh has prospects for fish production as the taste and smell of these fish are better than that in many other countries. We have 4.57 hectares of wetland but the natural fish production is being hampered due to the effects of climate change and other factors," He said, the country has exported 77643 tonnes of fish worth Tk 34.08 billion in 2009-2010 and the export volume until April 10 this fiscal year was 79,457 tonnes worth Tk 37.10 billion. "Though the fish production is gradually increasing, we are still not able to export fishes like Tilapia and Pangasius catfish, carps and 'koi' or 'climbing perch' but they have a huge potential in the global market. We have to produce pollution-free fish and explore new markets."