Home ›› 13 Sep 2021 ›› Nation
Mymensingh district have suffered huge losses, estimated to be around Tk 335 crore, in last 18 months due to Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the district fisheries office, the fish farmers in the 13 upazilas of the district produced around 3, 95,338 tonnes of fish in the last 18 months. After meeting the demand of the district, at least 2, 69,283 tonnes were surplus.
However, fish farmers in this district were unable to harvest fish and sell those to different parts of the country due to a lack of buyers and smooth inter-district transportation, said fisheries officials and fish farm owners.
“Mymensingh’s aquaculture industry faced losses of Tk355 crore amid the pandemic in last 18 months. A list of the farmers is being made who have incurred losses,” said Dilip Kumar Saha, the district fisheries officer.
“Local farmers were unable to supply fish to various parts of the country during the countrywide shutdown. Now, though there is no shutdown, the farmers could not recover the losses due to customer shortage,” the officer also said.
When this correspondent visited several areas recently, he found maximum fish farmers in the district passing their days amid frustration.
Rafiqul Islam, fish farmer of Dhala union in Trishal, said, “Before the Covid-19 situation, farmers benefited from the fish production. But now, we have to count losses as there are no customers like before.”
“So, we are forced to sell fish at throwaway prices in local markets,’’ he added.
Hundreds of hatcheries remain closed still in the upazila due to shortage of customers.
The government should offer incentive packages to cover the farmers’ losses and establish a system where they can buy fish directly from them (farmers), officials at the district fisheries office said.
The number of cold storages, fish processing centres, fisheries laboratories should be increased so that the fish produced does not go to waste, they added.
Addressing the problems, Bangladesh Fish Farm and Owners Association advisor MA Baten said many fish workers have lost jobs in last 18 months.
Fish prices have drastically fallen in markets.
The production cost of each kg Pangas and Tilapia is around Tk 90, but the retail price remained Tk 70 to Tk 75. The same is true in other fishes like Pabda, Gulsha and Tengra, which cost more than Tk 250 to produce but sell in low prices.
For sustainable and safe production, a fair price for farmers should be ensured, added MA Baten.
