Fish and prawn production in Khulna has been gravely hampered by the cyclone Fani last year, then cyclone Bulbul, the coronavirus crisis and now cyclone Amphan.
The production and export of prawn (bagda and galda), white fish, crabs and eels have reduced significantly.
Khulna District Fisheries Officer Md Abu Said said, the frozen prawn industry of Khulna was booming in the world market but recurring disasters are causing huge losses for the fish farmers and businessmen.
According to the District Fisheries Office, there were losses of Tk967,243,000 in the five upazilas of Khulna, which include white fish, prawn, white fish fries, prawn fries, eels and infrastructural loss.
Export was in a steady state in the eight months of 2018 from May to December, but it decreased by $400,000 in the same time frame of 2019 when cyclone Fani hit the country on May 10 and Bulbul on November 10.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau sources, in May 2018 prawn of $15,585,000 was exported which rose to a little more than $20 billion in the next few months, and it was as high as $84,001,000 in November.
In 2019, the export amounted to $15,511,000 in May, $37,233,000 in July, $27,206,000 in December with no increase during export season.
Previously, the prawns were mainly exported to the United States, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, France, Germany, Cyprus, Greece, Denmark, Romania, Russia, Japan, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Switzerland, Ukraine and Norway.
New demand for prawns was created in China but coronavirus marred that opportunity as well.
Current halt in production, circulation
Prawn is cultivated in 76,000 hectares of Khulna, Shatkhira and Bagerhat area.
Due to the low demand and high price prawn production has come to a standstill.
Though the new season of prawn cultivation has already started, 11 hatcheries have been closed in Khulna due to lack of mother prawn.
As the hatcheries cannot supply prawn fries, production cannot be continued in the ghers (small ponds).
10,000 ghers are now closed which means no income for 50 thousand workers.
As there is no prawns to sell the aroths (wholesale markets) are now closed, which has led to the loss of job for another 2,000 workers.
Khulna Division Shrimp fry Traders' Association General Secretary Golam Kibria Ripon said: “Though the sector is facing disasters for one year the effects of coronavirus is fatal. The export was okay before coronavirus hit us, but now local markets are our last hope.
He also said, usually a mother prawn produces about 70-80 million fries but they only produced 30-40 million fries in April this year. To compensate for the loss, fries would have to be sold at double the price, which means they would likely remain unsold.
That is why the hatcheries have halted operations.
Fish farmer Fakhrul Islam said: “The fishes could have been sold for low prices in the local markets, but the cyclone Amphan has washed away everything. Fishes have also died in the salty water.”
Prawn farmer Liton Poramanik said: “There are no buyers in the markets as well. So we have to live without income now.”
From the Divisional Fisheries Department, it was found that more than 500,000 people are associated directly or indirectly with the prawn farming sector.
Mofizul Islam, Bagda farmer of Bagali union in Koyra, Khulna said, prawns usually die in too much heat.
“Farmers will face huge loss due to factors like water level lowering due to high temperatures, ghers overflowing due to storms, fish fries and feed shortage, managing wages of workers among others,” he added.