Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim said that the government is sincerely working to spread out the indigenous species of fish all over the country.
“Once the country faced fish crisis as the fish production was decreased due to the use of chemical fertilizers, unplanned use of land and shortage of ponds, lakes and other water bodies,” he said.
But the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI), the Fisheries Department and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock brought a massive success in the country’s fisheries sector through conducting research, the minister added.
Rezaul made the remarks on Monday while addressing the 40th meeting of the BFRI Board of Governors at the ministry’s conference room in the Secretariat here, said a press release.
Noting that the credit of the success in the country’s fisheries sector goes to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the minister said, “The Prime Minister emphasizes on research in any development project”.
Though there was no allocation of big amount for conducting research, the scientists, however, have been able to bring back the endangered small species of indigenous fish, he said.
Reproductive techniques and methods of farming Boirali, Balachata, Angus, Jatputi and Datina fishes were invented, Rezaul said, adding that Live Fish Gene Bank has been set up in Mymensingh to protect the native species of fish.
BFRI Board of Governors Member Mohibur Rahman Manik, MP, Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Rawnak Mahmud, Planning Commission Member (Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions) Md Zakir Hossain Akanda, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Lutful Hassan, Fisheries Department’s Director General Quazi Shams Afroz, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) Executive Chairman Dr Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, BFRI Director General Dr Yahia Mahmud, Finance Division’s Joint Secretary Munshi Abdul Ahad and Fisheries and Livestock Ministry’s Joint Secretary Mahbooba Panna joined the meeting, among others.
