Take steps to tap maritime resources: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry to take effective steps for tapping the resources from the country's vast maritime areas.
"We've got a huge maritime boundary...it's almost 118,813 square kilometres, we must tap the resources from there, as we're still lagging behind in this regard," she said while inaugurating the National Fisheries Week-2015 at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) in the capital.
Sheikh Hasina said attaining the maritime boundary is not the last word, as there are huge resources.
"We've to utilise the resources for the country's socioeconomic development...we need to think about that with due importance," she said asking the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry to find out those interested in doing this.
About the export of fish and fish items, Hasina laid emphasis on strictly maintaining the standard and quality of the export items.
"Whenever we want to export something, the standard and quality of the items come first and that's most important because if the quality and standard are not maintained then the market will be closed for us," she reminded the exporters.
Chaired by Fisheries and Livestock Minister Muhammad Sayedul Hoque, the programme was addressed, among others, by State Mister for Fisheries and Livestock Narayon Chandra Chanda and Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Shelina Afroza.
Sheikh Hasina urged all concerned involved with the fisheries sector to work with utmost professionalism, sincerity and patriotism to uphold the traditional identity of ‘Machche Bhate Bangali’ (Fish and rice make a Bangali).
Realising the importance of this sector, Hasina said, her government framed the National Fisheries Policy-1998 during its 1996-2001 tenure for protecting fish and boosting its output.
Due to the various steps, she said, the fish production has risen to 3.548 million tonnes in the 2013-14 fiscal year, which was 2.7 million metric tonnes.
Hasina said Bangladesh has secured the fourth position globally in fish production in open water-bodies, while it remains at the 5th place in producing fish in closed water-bodies.
She said the income of fish farmers and fishermen has marked a rise by 30 percent over the last six and a half years, while employment has been created for over 0.65 million.
Hasina said her government launched a programme for the registration of the fishermen and giving ID cards to them. So far, 1.4 million fishermen have been registered and the process is expected to be completed by this year.
Later, she released fish fry in Ganabhaban pond.
-SS