Aila ravages shrimp farms in Satkhira

A shrimp farmer in Pratapnagar of Assasuni upazila in Satkhira tries to salvage his shrimp enclosures, which are inundated daily as seawater flows into the enclosures through embankment breaches made by cyclone Aila.Photo: Anisur RahmanWasim Bin Habib with Abu Ahmed, from Satkhira

Thousands of shrimp and freshwater fish farmers in Satkhira suffered a setback as cyclone Aila washed away most of the shrimp enclosures and water bodies in the area.

At least 7,117 shrimp enclosures on 26,028 hectares of land in six unions were ravaged by fierce tidal surge on May 25 when Aila ripped through the country's southwestern part.

Now many shrimp farmers who lost their homes and belongings in the cyclone have to shoulder the burden of huge loss.

The district fisheries office put the total loss of shrimp at Tk 93.21 crore and that of freshwater fish at Tk Tk 16.30.

Abdul Wadud, district fisheries officer-in-charge, told The Daily Star that about 2,707 tonnes of shrimp and 3,107 tonnes of freshwater fish were washed away by tidal surge that breached the embankments at many points.

"Shrimp fries worth around Tk 3.90 crore were washed away in the cyclone while the loss of shrimp and damage to shrimp enclosures has been estimated at Tk 93.21 crore and Tk 24.39 crore," he said.

There are about 25,381 shrimp enclosures on 57,956.75 hectares of land in the district from where shrimp worth around Tk 12,000 crore are exported every year.

Wadud said the loss of freshwater fish has been estimated at Tk 16.30 crore as about 4,031 ponds on 428 hectares of land were washed away in the cyclone.

Shrimp is cultivated in six of the seven upazilas in the district. Of the 7,117 ravaged shrimp enclosures, 3,361 are in Shyamnagar upazila, 1,891 in Assasuni upazila, 1,450 in Kaliganj upazila, 250 in Tala upazila, 150 in Satkhira Sadar and 15 in Debhata upazila.

SM Nurul Alam, a shrimp cultivator and former chairman of Anulia union, told The Daily Star that he has to incur a huge loss as his seven shrimp enclosures on 1,300 bighas of land in the coastline of Gabura union were completely washed away by tidal surge.

"I have been farming shrimp and other fish worth around Tk 1 crore in my enclosures since January. But all were washed away by tidal surge," he said.

"Now nothing is left except my house in Satkhira," he claimed.

Nurul Alam said he sold shrimp and other fish worth around Tk 10-12 crore last year.

"I don't know how long it will take to recover the loss," he added.

Nurul Alam said tidal surge washed away his shrimp enclosures on around 250 bighas of land at Kalyanpur village under Pratapnagar union.

He said he took a loan of Tk 8 crore from Assasuni branch of Janata Bank for shrimp cultivation.

"I have paid Tk 18 lakh for leasing land and spent Tk 13 lakh on shrimp farming," said the shrimp cultivator adding that had Aila not hit the district, he would have done a business of Tk 60-65 lakh.

Md Aktaruzzaman Mukul, a shareholder of several shrimp enclosures, said the cyclone damaged their shrimp enclosures on 180 bighas of land at Chakla village under Assassuni upazila.

He said they paid Tk 9 lakh for leasing lands and had been cultivating shrimp and freshwater fish by investing about Tk 5-7 lakh since January.

"Had Aila not ravaged the enclosures, we could have made a profit of Tk 5-6 lakh", Mukul said.

"Natural disasters wreak havoc in the district almost every year but the damaged embankments need to be repaired immediately to protect it from widespread destruction," he added.