Bagerhat Correspondent :
Cultivation of lobster and shrimps is threatened in Chitalmari Upazila in Bagerhat district due to acute scarcity of fries.
For want of fries, the cultivators of both lobsters and shrimps cannot release fries in their fish farms. As a result, the cultivators of the Upazila are in great anxiety.
Cultivators and fish fry traders said , every year the fish cultivators of the locality begin to release fish fries in their fish farms just with the beginning of the month of May. And at that time temporary hats (markets) of fish fries are set up hither and thither of the Upazila. Not only that but also fish fries, particularly the fires of lobsters are also purchased from Gopalganj, Faridpur and other adjacent districts according to the requirements and the fish cultivators release the fries in their fish farms.
But this year the picture is quite different. It is the middle of the month May, but the fries of both lobsters and shrimps are not available. So, the lobster and shrimp cultivators of the Upazila are apprehending that the target of lobsters and shrimps cultivation will not be achieved, though the majority people of the area fully depend on fish (particularly lobster and shrimp) cultivation.
Lobster cultivators Nirmal Mandol, Swapan Mandol, Girish Mandol, Sayed Emran Ali, Dulal Bala and some others of village Shyampara within Charbaniari Union under Chitalmari Upazila told the newsmen that they could not release lobster and shrimp fries in their fish farms. They apprehend that whether they would be able or not to releases fish fries in their fish farms in time.
Tushar Kanti, a lobster cultivator of Roy Gram of the Upazila told the newsmen that in the past after collecting fish fries from the different rivers and canals fish fry traders used to appear in the localities for selling the fish fries. But the picture of this year is quite different.
Taking the opportunity of fish fry crisis some dishonest fish fry traders are collecting the inferior quality of lobster and shrimp fires from India and some other adjacent foreign countries and selling the same in the localities at higher rate in the name of local furies.
As a result, the lobster and shrimp cultivators are being cheated. On the other hand, the future of the fish cultivation is becoming bleak.
Upazila Agriculture Department sources said , lobster and shrimp are being cultivated on 15 thousand 7 hundred 15 fish farms and about 14 thousand farmers are involved in this profession.
It is further learnt from the source that lobsters are being cultivated on 20,938. 32 hectares of lands while shrimps are being cultivated on 2,460 hectares of lands in 7 unions of the Upazila this year.
The unions are Charbaniari, Kalatala, Hijla, Shibpur, Barbaria. Chitalmari Sadar and Santoshpur. Fish farmers of those Unions earn crores of Taka every year from lobster and shrimp cultivation.
The fish farmers are to cultivate lobsters and shrimps fighting against various natural calamities and for those they incurred loss in previous years.
But this year they are incurring heavy loss due to acute scarcity of fish fries, virus disease, scorching heat and some other natural calamities. At this moment the fish cultivators are not in a position to manage lobster and shrimp fries for releasing in their fish farms. So, they are now in great anxieties.
