Experts emphasised on the practice of hatchery-produced shrimp fry farming in the country as huge numbers of aquatic animals are being destroyed during the collection of shrimp fry from rivers.
The collection of shrimp fry, especially in the coastal districts, has largely been endangering the region's natural water bodies impacting the biodiversity and world large mangrove forest Sundarbans, they observed.
Experts and trainers made the remarks while addressing a training session for farmers based on the mangrove forest area in the Dakop upazila of Khulna district on Monday.
Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS), with the funding of the Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ), organised the event.
Senior fisheries officer of Dakop Upazila of Khulna Md. Selim Sultan provided training to the participant farmers putting emphasis on using hatchery-produced shrimp fry and organic farming. He provided training on the biological techniques of cultivating the shrimp fry.
He said that aquatic animals were being extensively destroyed while farmers were trying to collect shrimp fry from rivers around the regions.
“We should all use hatchery fry. Hatchery based organic shrimp farming eliminates the need for additional feed and reduces the mortality rate of shrimp fry.”
Mangrove forest in the tropical coastal region is one of the most important and productive environments in the world.
And, the carbon storage capacity of mangrove forests is huge, which also plays an important role in stabilising the world's climate and protecting coastal areas.
Besides, mangrove forest is a breeding ground for many species of fishes, which is important for coastal fisheries resources and protects the population of the region by reducing the intensity of tropical cyclones.
But the size of mangrove forest is decreasing with time, and one of the reasons for the decline in mangroves is the uncontrolled and unplanned expansion of shrimp farming, experts mentioned at the event.
But, shrimp farming helps the local people to earn a decent income, so there is no alternative to mangrove-based shrimp farming to save fish farmers and mangroves in the south-west of the country.
And, to address the situation, with the financial support of BMZ, Germany, BEDS and some other organisations launched the project to save biodiversity.
