Frozen fish exporters say, few depots in Khulna often inject jelly like liquid substances or tiny transparent marbles to increase the weight by 100-200 gm per kg of shrimp.
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.
Usually, jellies and a mixture of different items are pushed into shrimps to increase their weight, and colors 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 exporters to bag extra profits.
According to stakeholder, about 15 million people are (directly and indirectly) involved in the shrimp industry. Bangladesh’s second largest foreign exchange earning sector which started to grow in the late 1960s.
Although, the law enforcement agencies regularly raid fish depots and penalize dishonest traders, the contamination has not completely stopped.
On Wednesday night, another mobile court in Khulna seized and destroyed almost 1000 kgs of shrimp. Fifteen persons, including a top-ranking wholesaler, were fined Tk 1,44,000 during the raid at a depot in the Rupsa bus stand area.
A team of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-6) and the senior Upazila fisheries officer conducted the drive on the basis of secret information.
The convicts are M/S Rakib Fish’s (local wholesaler) 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.
RAB-6 Director Lt Col Mohammad Mostak Ahmad
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 area 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 transparent marbles into shrimps (mostly Fresh water) to increase their weight by 100-200 gm per kg and supply to us. And it’s very hard to identify the injected shrimps from thousands of them. For this reason, we have faced huge economic losses as buyers usually return the adulterated shrimp following tests and demand fresh shipments at lower price.
And these rejected shrimps are then sold to traders in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka, Savar, Dinajpur, Panchagarh, Bogra, Chandpur, Patuakhali and Feni.
Some dishonest employees of the shrimp trading companies are the main culprits who do such unethical work and damage the business. We have strengthened the monitoring system in the processing factories and the depots as well. The district and the upazila administrations, along with law enforcers, are actively taking very strict action to stop the menace. But still, the shrimp exporters are in a state of fear and anxiety. They get relief only after each shipment is approved.
Mr. Humayun Kabir, vice president of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA)
The sliver lining, all the effective measures have started to giving it fruits. Shrimp adulteration ratio now close to nil in the export sector these days. But this heinous process is in practice to the local market and it’s high time to work all together and put a full stop on this unethical work in Bangladesh.
