The district and upazila administrations, the Fisheries Department and different law enforcement agencies in Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat areas have increased vigilance and raids to check the contamination of shrimp -- Bangladesh's white gold known as a GI product worldwide.
Usually, jellies and a mixture of different items are pushed into shrimps to increase their weight, and colours are used to make the shrimps attractive. The adulteration – a matter of serious public concern nowadays – is being resorted to in shrimps sold locally and for exports to bag extra profits.
According to industry insiders, about 15,000,000 people are directly or indirectly involved in the export of frozen shrimp, Bangladesh's second largest foreign exchange earning sector which started to grow in the 1960s.
Shrimp is exported to France, China, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Taiwan, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, Portugal, Austria, Cyprus and the Dominican Republic. Shrimp export to Russia remains suspended because of the war in Ukraine.
Although the law enforcement agencies regularly raid fish depots and penalize dishonest traders, the contamination has not stopped.
On Wednesday night, another mobile court in Khulna seized and destroyed 900kgs of shrimp. Fifteen persons, including a top-ranking wholesaler, were fined Tk1,44,000 during the raid at a depot in the Rupsa bus stand area.
Dhaka TribuneA team of the Rapid Action Batallion (RAB-6) and the senior Upazila fisheries officer conducted the drive on the basis of secret information. RAB-6 Director Lt Col Mohammad Mostak Ahmad on Thursday said the convicts include M/S Rakib Fish Manager Ibrahim Sheikh, his employees, and several other traders.
“The Khulna region is very famous for shrimps. This GI product is known to the world as the white gold of Bangladesh.
“Shrimps from Khulna are supplied to various parts of the country and exported. Some unscrupulous traders are using some substances harmful to human health. We’ll continue our drives against such practices,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Khulna Civil Surgeon Dr Sujat Ahmed said such adulterated shrimps might damage the liver and kidneys.
There are more than 700 depots in Notun Bazar and Rupsa in Khulna city, and over a hundred others in Satkhira and Bagerhat.
Frozen fish exporters say some depots in Khulna often push jelly, liquid substances and marbles into shrimps to increase their weight by 100-200gm per kg. For this reason, exporters face huge economic losses as buyers usually return the adulterated shrimp following tests and demand fresh shipments at lower prices.
These rejected shrimps are then sold to traders in Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Dhaka, Savar, Dinajpur, Panchagarh, Bogra, Chandpur, Patuakhali and Feni.
Humayun Kabir, vice president of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association, said that some dishonest employees of the shrimp trading companies are the pushers of harmful substances into the shrimps. “It is not easy to identify the adulterated shrimp. You may understand it after you fall sick, having consumed the shrimp.
“We have strengthened the monitoring system in the company and the depots. The district and the upazila administrations, along with law enforcers, are actively taking strict action to stop the menace. But the shrimp exporters are in a state of fear and anxiety. They get relief only after each shipment is approved,” he told Dhaka Tribune.