Shrimp sector faces Tk 250cr loss

In the aftermath of Cyclone Sidr, the country's shrimp or frozen food industry, the second largest foreign exchange earner, fears an estimated loss of Tk 250 crore.
"As per our assessment, we will incur a loss of Tk 200 crore to Tk 250 crore," said Kazi Belayet Hossain, president of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters' Association (BFFEA).
Shrimp farms in the three southern districts -- Bagerhat, Satkhira and Khulna -- that were severely ravaged by Sidr, are likely to suffer 70 percent or Tk 175 crore of the estimated loss.
Farms in this region are well known for their Black Tiger shrimp, also called Bagda shrimp locally.
The rest of the loss, 30 percent or Tk 75 crore, is likely to be incurred by shrimp farms located in Barguna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Madaripur and Gopalganj where fresh water shrimp, locally known as Golda, are cultivated.
Shrimp farmers usually receive loans or financing from shrimp exporters and are committed to sell their product to the exporters.
The farmers will not be able to sell their product to the exporters now as the hurricane washed away most of the shrimp enclosures and hatcheries.
Bagda shrimp is cultivated on 1,30,000 hectares of land in the region while Golda is cultivated on 40,000 hectares of land, said industry sources.
"We need interest-free bank loans so that we can provide more loans to the farmers," Belayet said adding that the government should also offer direct support to the farmers immediately.
Echoing him, Maqsudur Rahman, vice-president of BFFEA, said almost all the shrimp enclosures, hatcheries and processing plants in Bagerhat, Satkhira and Khulna, where 70 percent of the shrimp is produced, have been damaged by tidal surge of Sidr.
Meanwhile, Directorate of Fisheries (DoF) is working to assess the loss caused by Sidr, especially the loss incurred by farmers. "Fortunately, since this was an off-season for Bagda cultivation in the costal areas, according to our rough estimates, the loss may be around Tk 50 crore," said Mokammel Hossain, director general of DoF.
"A DoF team is working in the field to measure the extent of loss and their final assessment would come in during the next week," he said.
Apart from losses caused by the hurricane, shrimp exporters are facing another Tk 150 crore loss due to drastic fall in prices and demands on the international shrimp markets.
Maqsud, the BFFEA vice-president, said the natural disaster would have a serious negative impact on shrimp export. "Shrimp export has already declined in the first quarter of this fiscal due to fall in prices and demands on international markets. The hurricane's impact will be felt after three months," he said adding that the frozen food sector will certainly fail to achieve the export target set for this fiscal year.
The country's second largest cash cow, shrimp or frozen food industry earned $ 515 million from exports during the last fiscal year (2006-07).
The government has fixed an export target of $ 600 million in the frozen food sector for this running fiscal of 2007-08.
CHITTAGONG FISHERIES FACE TK 34 CR LOSS
Fisheries sector in eight districts of Chittagong division has incurred a loss of over Tk 34 crore due to heavy rain caused by the recent hurricane that mainly hit country's coastal districts in the south and south western regions, reports UNB.
According to the Chittagong divisional office in Comilla, fisheries sector in 54 upazilas of Comilla, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Feni, Laxmipur, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban districts was badly affected.
The hurricane damaged structures of 45,559 water bodies on 1.54 lakh acres in eight districts worth Tk 3.18 crore
The sources said approximately about 63.31 lakh kg of fish worth Tk 25.09 crore and 4,460 kg of shrimp worth Tk 8.09 lakh were washed away in these districts. Huge fish fries were also washed away, incurring a loss of about Tk 6.27 crore.