 A
new closed fresh water shrimp cultivation method, one,
which reuses and recycles its water rather than
discharging it and letting new water in, has brought
hope for local shrimp farms suffering from repeated
virus attacks over the past seven years. Bangladeshi
commercial shrimp cultivation began in the mid-1970s and
remained virus free for two decades. However, the
industry started having problems after the introduction
of diseased fry in 1996. The closed freshwater
cultivation system works by allowing the water in the
shrimp pond to be purified through chlorination. The
system also requires a reservoir pond to inject water in
the cultivation pond if the water goes below a required
level. The system was launched in 2002 by Agro-based
Technology Development Program (ATDP), a project funded
by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) to provide technical assistance for
the promotion of virus-free shrimp farming in
Bangladesh. ATDP experts state that the new method can
also yield production increases of 300-500% over
traditional methods. The technology has proved crucial
for Bangladesh as international buyers have imposed
certain restrictions on the shrimp export from
Bangladesh to ensure the products are of high quality
and virus free. The shrimp industry in Bangladesh
currently covers 190,000 hectares in southwestern and
southeastern coastal regions. Around 145,000 farmers are
producing 30,000 metric tons of shrimps annually under
traditional methods. Shrimp production earned Bangladesh
US$ 278.12 million in 2002-03. Source: Xinhua General
News Service, October 26, October 30, 2003.
Source: http://www.enaca.org
Coastal aquaculture (Shrimp)
The shrimp export industry began in
the 1980s as a result of economic liberalisation There
are now 37,397 shrimp ghers57 in Bangladesh58 (Table
62), producing 32,800 mt shrimp and 37,400 mt of finfish
(Table 63). The total production area is estimated to be
170,074 ha (Fourth Fisheries Project), of which 135,137
ha (29,457 ghers) are in the Khulna District (in the
south-west) and 34,937 ha (2,465 ghers) in the
Chittagong District (in the south-east). 91 % of land
under shrimp cultivation is owned. The remainder is khas/public
land. 66 % of the owned land is leased.
Farm size
The overall average gher size is
4.5 ha. Khulna ghers are on average this size or lower
whilst those in Chittagong District are much larger (14
ha). The main areas of activity in the Khulna district
are Bagerhat, Satkhira and Khulna (north of the
Sundarbans). The main area of activity in the
Chittagong district is Cox’s Bazar. In most areas,
marine shrimp farming is practised in low-lying tidal
flats within the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)
polders. Only a very small minority of the farms uses
Low Lift Pumps (LLPs) and water is accessed from salt
canals fed by tidal waters.
Shrimp Market
Shrimp is the leading fishery
commodity in the global seafood market with a turnover
of more than US $10 billion.
..........Click for
more
Source:Fisheries Sector
Review and Future Development
Theme study: Economic performance
June 2003, Dhaka, Bangladesh
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