Fisheries and Livestock Minister S M Rezaul Karim launched a gene bank for endangered local fish species at Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) headquarters in Mymensingh on Saturday.
The first of its kind in the country, the bank has collected genes of a total 143 endangered fish species.
Presided over by BFRI director general Dr Yahia Mahmud, the inaugural function was also attended by Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Rawnak Mahmud and Department of Fisheries director general Quazi Shams Afroz, among others.
Rezaul Karim said the government has put emphasis on the fisheries sector to meet the demand of protein. So the use of technology in developing this sector is must and BFRI is contributing a lot to this end, he added.
Dr Yahia Mahmud said there are a total 260 species of fish in the country, of which 143 species have made their place in this gene bank.
