AMN / WEB DESK
Fisheries Minister of Bangladesh S M Rezaul Karim has said that Bangladesh is working to increase the production of Hilsa fish in the country which has received the Geographical Indicator (GI) tag. He said that Bagda prawn has been added as a new GI product.
He said that production of Hilsa fish has gone up from about 3 lakh metric ton in 2009 to over 5.65 lakh ton in 2020-21. Bangladesh is exporting Hilsa to more than 52 countries in the world directly or indirectly.
Inaugurating the Fisheries Week in Dhaka, the Minister said that Bangladesh has set up three state of the art laboratories to control the quality of the fish.
Talking about the disappearing species of fish, the minister said that Bangladeshi scientists have brought back 36 species of extinct fishes to life. He said that a live gene bank has been set up in Mymensingh which will house more than 100 species of fish to preserve their gene. He said that Bangladesh ensures that no toxic material goes with the fish to any country where it is exported.
Stressing upon the potential of fishery as a foreign exchange earner for Bangladesh, Minister Rezaul Karim said that projects are underway for deep sea tuna fishing.
The Minister inaugurated the Fisheries week today by flagging off a colourful boat rally at the Hatirjheel venue in Dhaka. Fish production has more than doubled in Bangladesh in the last 16 years. Fisheries sector contributes 3.57 percent of the total GDP of the country and 26.50 percent of the agricultural GDP.
In the world, Bangladesh ranks 3rd in open inland fish production, 5th in closed pond cultured fish production, 1st in hilsa production and 4th in tilapia production.