Despite drives by police, RAB and Fisheries Department in Bagerhat over the past few years to stop adulteration of shrimp, the malpractice of dishonest traders continues unabated.
Shrimps are exported to different countries from Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira districts. Injecting jelly, water, rice starch, and other harmful substances into shrimps to increase their weight and earn extra profit, ausing concern among exporters and consumers.
Shrimp exporters fear they may lose overseas markets if importers cancel orders due to such adulterated shrimp.
Shrimp once held the second spot in top export goods from Bangladesh but in the last few years it failed to hold up against the growing competition and fell down to seventh.
In the last six months (July-December), mobile courts in Bagerhat seized some 1,660 kg of shrimp while traders were injecting jelly-like substances into shrimp.
Executive magistrates and the Bagerhat District Fisheries Office (DFO) conducted 17 mobile court drives in various areas of the districts, including Bagerhat Sadar, Fakirhat, Mollahat, Chitalmari, Rampal, and Mongla during the period.
In those drives, some 1,660 kg of shrimp were seized and destroyed, nine traders were arrested, and five traders were fined and a total of 13 cases were filed.
The DFO sources said, the DFO teams and executive magistrates conducted 48 mobile court raids in different areas of the districts and seized 540 kg adulterated shrimp in the last FY 2021-22. A fine of Tk 1.65 lakh was collected in that fiscal year.
ASM Russel, Bagerhat district fisheries officer, said they have repeatedly warned traders and farmers.
“We've gave them advice on how to keep the quality. However, some dishonest traders continue to push substances to earn extra profits,” he said.
Shrimp farmers of districts claimed there is no scope for contamination from the production level. Around 55000 farmers in the district are involved in shrimp farming.
Fakir Mohitul Islam Suman, president of the Bagerhat District Shrimp Farmers' Association, said, traders are to blame for this ill practice.
“We give utmost importance to maintaining quality. There is no room for adulteration on our part by pushing any kind of substance. Traders and middlemen are to blame for this,” he said.
Syed Zakir Hossain, President of Barakpur Wholesale Fish Market of the district, said that they confiscate adulterated shrimp.
“Adulteration process mainly happens after the middlemen buy shrimp from different markets. They buy from us and sell to different export companies after adulterating the product,” he said.
He also said some export companies buy adulterated shrimp deliberately.
He demanded strict legal action against the adulterators.
Locally known as white gold, shrimp is one of the major export items of the country.
According to the district’s fisheries department, there are around 77,000 enclosures (Gher, as called by locals) on 72,724 hectares of land. Among them, there are 52,000 enclosures on 52,000 hectares of land for black tiger shrimp or ‘Bagda’ farming, and a total of 25,000 enclosures on 20,000 hectares of land for Scampi shrimp or ‘Galda’ farming.
A total of 35,000 metric tons of shrimp was produced in Bagerhat in the last fiscal year and 35,672 metric tons in FY 2020-21.
