Mohammad Shahjahan Chowdhury, Managing Director of Riverain Fish and Food Processing Industries Ltd, has been elected as the new BFFEA president. A seasoned figure in the Bangladesh seafood industry, he is expected to lead initiatives to enhance export capacity and tackle sectoral challenges.

Joining him are Md Tariqul Islam Zaheer, Managing Director of Achia Sea Foods Ltd, as Senior Vice-President, and two regional vice-presidents: Sk Kamrul Alam of Rupali Sea Foods Ltd (Khulna region) and Dodul Kumar Datta of Pacific Sea Foods Ltd (Chattogram region)—representing Bangladesh’s two key seafood processing zones.

The BFFEA new committee for 2025 also includes number of directors:

• Md Masudur Rahman (Sea Fresh Ltd)
• MA Hassan Panna (Fahim Seafood Processing & Farming Ltd)
• Md Jalal Uddin (Crimson Rosella Seafood Ltd)
• Adhir Ranjan Das (Anraj Fish Products Industries Ltd)
• Mohammad Abu Shahriar (BD Seafood Ltd)
• Syed Badruzzaman (Salam Sea Foods Ltd)
• SM Akhtaruzzaman (Glacies Food Ltd)
• AKM Fazlul Haque (Trust Seafood Industries Ltd)
• Md Sofiulla Khan (Rupsha Fish & Allied Industries Ltd)
• Md Shohel S Hussain (Aqua Fisheries Ltd)
• Arman Hasan (Ark Sea Foods Ltd)

With only 25% of shrimp processing plants currently active in Khulna and Chattogram, due to raw material shortages and financial constraints, the seafood export sector in Bangladesh is at a turning point. The new BFFEA leadership is expected to promote innovation, ensure sustainable sourcing, and strengthen Bangladesh’s position in the global frozen seafood trade.

The BFFEA, which includes over 200 member companies, plays a pivotal role in advocating for exporters, improving market access, and shaping regulatory frameworks for the Bangladesh shrimp exporters community.

With this transition, stakeholders hope the new BFFEA committee 2025 will help unlock opportunities, expand Bangladesh’s export markets, and revitalize the country’s role as a leading player in the international seafood industry.

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In a disclosure made to the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Thursday, 3rd October, Gemini Seafood confirmed that BSEC’s decision stems from concerns over the company’s financial reporting. Specifically, a BSEC investigation found discrepancies, including fabricated sales figures amounting to Tk 27 crore (about $2.3 million USD).

Earlier this year, Gemini Seafood announced plans to issue over 20 million right shares to boost its paid-up capital, settle outstanding debts, and support business expansion. The shares were offered at a price of Tk 60 each ($0.50), including a premium of Tk 50 ($0.42) per share, at a ratio of 2R:1 (two shares for every existing share). However, BSEC found this premium to be inconsistent with the company’s financial standing.

The BSEC had initiated an inquiry in 2022 to investigate inflated revenue reports. The investigation revealed that Gemini Seafood falsified revenue figures in its local sales, claiming to have sold products to buyers who later reported that they had not received any goods from the company.

Despite this setback, Gemini Seafood remains a pioneer in the Bangladeshi seafood industry. Known for exporting certified organic shrimp, the company processes and exports frozen raw shrimp, cooked shrimp, and whitefish to key markets like the US, UK, Germany, and Russia. Lenk Frozen Food (Asia) and Gemini Seafood had a collaborative agreement back in 2023 to promote seafood practices, expand global market presence and improve backward linkage. Listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange since 1985, the company has faced challenges but managed a significant recovery after the pandemic.

In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the company’s revenue more than doubled, reaching Tk72.64 crore (around $5.7 million USD), and it saw a further rise to Tk77.65 crore (approximately $6.1 million USD) in FY23.

Despite these growth figures, Gemini’s stock performance has been volatile, with its share price reaching a peak of Tk 934.4 per share in early May 2023. On Thursday, the company’s share price stood at Tk230.40 ($1.92).

As the situation unfolds, stakeholders in the seafood sector and investors in Bangladesh will be closely monitoring Gemini Seafood’s response and next steps in addressing BSEC’s concerns.

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The new processing facility, located in Cox’s Bazar, will employ around 500 workers. The plant is expected to process up to 1,000 tonnes of scallops monthly, exporting approximately 200 tonnes of scallop meat to markets in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. This move is part of Japan Delica’s strategy to diversify its seafood export destinations amid China’s recent ban on Japanese marine products following the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Japan Delica, a subsidiary of Japan Food Service Co. based in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, aims to achieve annual sales of 8 billion Japanese yen ( which is approximately USD 55.54 million) within three years. This is the first time Japanese scallops, particularly those from Hokkaido and Aomori Prefecture, will be processed in Bangladesh for global distribution.

The Japanese government is also supporting the establishment of new processing facilities for Japanese scallops in countries like Vietnam and Mexico to reduce dependency on the Chinese market. Currently, around 350 Japanese companies operate in Bangladesh, with investments exceeding $380 million.

This development underscores the strengthening economic ties between Japan and Bangladesh, with 85% of Japanese companies in Bangladesh advocating for an economic partnership agreement (EPA) to further enhance trade and investment. Bangladesh’s exports to Japan, including fish, leather goods, and readymade garments, were valued at $1.9 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23. The consistent growth in exports to Japan highlights the rising standards of Bangladeshi products in global markets.

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The first two companies are based in Khulna and active members of the Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA). SM Corporation’s whereabouts are unknown.

What these shrimp exporters did was, they created made-up documents that claimed they were exporting shrimp but didn’t actually export any shrimp. They then provide these documents to Rupali Bank and got about US $15 million. They also took around US $4 million from the government as export subsidy for their fabricated exports. So, in total, they got about US $19 million through these fake documents. This is just what known so far; there could be more money involved.

This happened at Sir Iqbal road or Sham’s building branch of Rupali Bank in Khulna. The Bangladesh Bank, which oversees banks in Bangladesh, and Rupali Bank’s own internal team are now investigating this to find out what exactly happened and who it. Both initial reports from these teams confirm that a fraud occurred.

Two employees of Rupali Bank, the former manager, and deputy general manager (DGM) Zakir Ibn Borak, and senior principal officer Murad Hossain, have already been suspended because of this.

Bilkish Ara, the current manager of Rupali Bank’s Sir Iqbal road branch Khulna, said that the head office’s audit team is looking into this matter. She didn’t want to talk to the news media and suggested talking to the head office for more information.

When asked about this recently, the Managing Director of Rupali Bank, Mohammad Jahangir, said, “These companies have been our customers for a long time, and they’ve even received government awards. We are trying to get back the money they took and some amount has been recovered.”

The bank had been lenient with them because of the ongoing dollar shortage in recent years. Shrimp exporters in Bangladesh don’t need to buy raw materials from abroad, so all the money they earn from exporting shrimp helps increase the country’s supply of dollars.

In many cases, these shrimp exporting companies sell their export bills to their banks to get quick cash since it takes time for the money to appear in their accounts. Banks charge fees and commissions for this service. The banks did this to support the companies, thinking it would boost the country’s export income and bring in more dollars. However, these companies misused this opportunity.

Priam Fish Export Ltd‘s factory is in Char Rupsa, Bagmara, Khulna, and it’s managing director is Abdul Quader. Bionic Sea Food’s office is on KDA Avenue in Khulna, and its managing director is Siddiqur Rahman.

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Founded by Mr. Heiko Werner Lenk in 2003, the LENK Group is comprised of Lenk Frozen Foods (Asia) Co. Ltd and Lenk Seafood Services GmbH, in Bargteheide, Germany. The company sources and sells seafood including shrimp, cephalopods, clams, and fish from across South and Southeast Asia, with subsidiaries in several countries. Its primary market is Europe.

Earlier in 2021, Lenk Frozen Food (Asia) Co. Ltd had acquired Fahim Seafoods Pvt Ltd, unfortunately that deal was closed between the companies due to some procedural issues from Fahim seafoods end.

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The aim is to establish demonstration centers in the Sylhet, Khulna and Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh. There, 1,600 local fish and shrimp farmers are to be trained in modern, environmentally friendly cultivation techniques.

The partners also intend to map out the prospects of local applicability to food supplements and antibiotic substitutes.

The participants are investing a combined 6 million euros. They are to work in partnership with local shrimp processor Gemini Sea food, chicken and fish farmer Aftab Bahumukhi Farms and Bengali consulting firm LightCastle Partners.

The launching event was graced by Birgitta Tazelaar, Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands as the chief guest. Alongside, the Dutch ambassador to the Netherlands, H.E. Anne van Leeuwen, also attended the event. Matthias Brienen, Director, Larive International, anchored the session; while LightCastle was represented by Zahedul Amin, Co-founder and Director, LightCastle Partners, and Sanjir Ali, Senior Business Consultant and Project Manager.

Larive is leading the four-year project. It has previously set up similar fish farms and agricultural projects in Indonesia, India, Myanmar, Africa and Eastern Europe.

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Reports indicate that in addition to the scheduled four to five hours of power cuts, most areas in Khulna are experiencing even longer duration of load shedding (power cut ). Factories supplied by the Palli Bidyut Samity (Rural power development board) are enduring up to 18 hours of power cuts per day, while those under the West Zone Power Distribution Company are facing 8 to 12 hours of outages daily.

S Humayun Kabir, vice-president of the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association, stated that approximately 80% of the country’s shrimps are processed in the Khulna division. However, due to the excessive load shedding, factories have been compelled to reduce production by 50% to 60%.

He further emphasized that while the Prime Minister had mentioned a need to conserve 20% to 25% of electricity and scheduled load shedding of four to five hours per day was expected, the actual duration of power cuts in many areas of Khulna is much longer.

Uninterrupted electricity supply is crucial for the survival of factories in the global market, especially those involved in the fish processing industry, Kabir noted.

According to sources, in the fiscal year 2021, Bangladesh exported frozen fish worth $477.37 million, with frozen shrimps accounting for $328.84 million of the total export earnings.

The situation has worsened due to a severe shortage of ice. S Humayun Kabir explained that storing frozen fish has become nearly impossible during extended power outages as all the ice melts into water within a few hours without electricity. This has resulted in significant economic losses for farmers, suppliers, and factory owners. Moreover, the quality of exported products is being affected, tarnishing the country’s image.

Shrimp farmers in remote areas are particularly affected by the ice crisis. In some cases, due to the scarcity of ice, they are transporting shrimps to processing factories in a rotten state, unable to maintain proper storage conditions in the hot weather.

The price of ice has also skyrocketed, with some ice producers charging BDT 500 (Bangladeshi Taka) for what used to cost BDT 100, and in extreme cases, prices reaching up to BDT 1000.

Fakir Mohitul Islam Sumon, president of the Bagerhat Shrimp Farmers Association, expressed concern over the severe ice crisis caused by the load shedding. He highlighted that the inability to store fish properly has led to disruptions in frozen fish exports.

The Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh has stated that the electricity situation is expected to improve, but it may take a couple of months. Power plants that were previously idle due to technical issues and not connected to the national power grid will be operational and connected soon.

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In a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the new minimum wage board was established, marking the first revision since 2015. Earlier this year, representatives from both industry owners and workers were appointed to review the minimum wages in the shrimp industry.

The ministry then invited written objections or recommendations within 14 days of publishing the notification, seeking input from stakeholders.

The government has categorized workers and employees in the shrimp industry into six and four grades, respectively. As per the gazette, workers in grade six will now receive a minimum monthly wage of Tk 6,700, with Tk 4,200 designated as the basic pay. This represents a significant increase of about 51 percent compared to the previous wage board. Additionally, the housing allowance makes up 35 percent, or Tk 1,470, of the total salary.

In 2015, the minimum monthly wage for grade-six workers was set at Tk 4,419, with Tk 2,940 as the basic pay.

The gazette also outlines an annual increment of 5 percent of the basic pay, with an additional cumulative increase of 5 percent scheduled for the following year.

Across all worker grades, a medical allowance of Tk 730 has been established, marking a substantial increase of around 143 percent from the previous Tk 300. Similarly, the transport allowance has doubled to Tk 300.

For apprentice workers, the new monthly wage during the three-month apprenticeship period is set at Tk 5,307. In cases where the apprentice’s performance is unsatisfactory, the apprenticeship period may be extended for an additional three months. After completing the apprenticeship, employees will enter a novice period lasting six months, during which they will receive Tk 5,761 per month.

Khondoker Aynul Islam, the owners’ representative on the wage board and managing director of Southfield Fisheries Limited, expressed satisfaction with the process, stating that efforts were made to establish a reasonable and negotiable minimum wage plan for workers and employees. He mentioned that the negotiations proceeded smoothly, acknowledging that while the new wages may not fully meet their needs, they aimed to find a mutually agreeable position.

Industry insiders highlight the significance of shrimp farming as a vital source of employment in the country’s south-western coastal region. Approximately 12,000 people are directly employed in 105 shrimp processing plants, while the industry as a whole engages around one million individuals in various roles.

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