Launching of aquaculture alliance deferred to Dec

Monira Munni Launching of Bangladesh Aquaculture Alliance (BAA) has been deferred to next month (December) for some technical and internal problems, officials said Monday. The BAA will begin working to ensure traceability, quality and augmented production in December which was earlier scheduled to start functioning in February and then in this month (November), they said. A committee of 21 members belonging to the BAA, a platform for the shrimp industry's stakeholders, was set up in January to manage the sector as per the demands of foreign clients and to guarantee food safety throughout the supply chain. The European Union (EU) had recommended upgrading of traceability to help increase the credibility of the Bangladeshi shrimp industry as well as ensure entry of its shrimps into markets abroad, the committee said. "But we are yet to start functioning due to some technical problems including shortage of fund," said an official of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA). The alliance will now be launched in the first week of December and the Fisheries and Livestock Minister is expected to inaugurate the programme, he added. This traceability record, which the EU recommended upgrading, would help enhance the credibility of the shrimp industry and acceptability of local shrimps in overseas markets, he said. Forward and backward linkages between the existing component industries of integrated shrimp and fish farming to achieve integration would also be established through the alliance, he hoped. The BAA will help to integrate the shrimp and fish farming industries and incorporate all the stakeholders including fish and shrimp farmers, hatchery owners, ice plant owners, feed producers and millers, and exporters, President of BAA Maqsudur Rahman said. "We have completed all the formalities and hope that the activities of the alliance will start early next month," he said. All the stakeholders from the production to the export level will be brought together under one roof, Mr Rahman said. Once the alliance is activated, it will be possible to control and solve all the complaints of the EU. Moreover, it will help farmers get a fair price for their product because the sector will be inter-linked with all the stakeholders, he explained. The country fetched US$ 625.04 million in the last fiscal year from export of frozen fish, the third largest foreign currency earning sector.