Radiya Ahmed, a housewife, purchased a kilogram of large shrimp from a local fish market for BDT 500 (USD 5). She hoped it would be a delightful weekend treat for her children.
When she started peeling the shrimp, she found something unusual in one of them. She pinched the shrimp at the base of its head out of curiosity. Then a jelly-like material with an elastic consistency spilled out.
The injected thing is no food but rather a chemical substance called gelatin. It has no nutritional benefit and may cause digestive issues like an upset stomach. Children might potentially become unwell if this material is not carefully removed from the shrimp before cooking.
The dealers purchase the shrimp and then inject them with chemicals to boost weight and increase their profit. Using such compounds they increase the weight of shrimp by five to eight kg per maund (37 kilograms). This occurs during the harvest of large shrimp such as the black tiger, known locally as Bagda.
Sincere efforts have been taken by police, Rab and the Fisheries Department in Bagerhat to combat this heinous practice for few years in a row but corrupt dealers continue to engage in this unethical actions.
During the last six months (July-December, 2022), mobile courts in Bagerhat recovered about 1,660 kg of shrimp that had been injected with jelly-like materials. The executive magistrates and the Bagerhat District Fisheries Office (DFO) held 17 mobile courts around the district, including in Bagerhat Sadar, Fakirhat, Mollahat, Chitalmari, Rampal, and Mongla in the last 6 months.
ASM Russel, the district fisheries officer of Bagerhat, stated that traders and farmers had been frequently warned. “We advised them on how to preserve the quality. However, dishonest traders continue to inject these chemicals in order to increase their profits,” he claimed. The farmers of the Bagerhat district are saying, shrimp adulteration has no space at the farming level. In the area, over 55,000 farmers are active in shrimp farming. The head of the Bagerhat District Shrimp Farmers’ Association, Fakir Mohitul Islam Suman, also attributed this illegal activity to traders.
The president of the district’s Barakpur Wholesale Fish Market, Syed Zakir Hossain, stated that they seize contaminated shrimp frequently. “The majority of adulteration occurs after intermediaries purchase shrimp from several marketplaces. They buy from us and add chemicals into the products before selling it,” he claimed. He further stated that some exporting companies purchase contaminated shrimp intentionally.
“Exporters and customers are deeply concerned about the practice of injecting shrimp with gelatin, water, rice starch and other chemicals to raise their weight and enhance revenues,” he added.
Shrimp is one of Bangladesh’s primary exports and is colloquially known as “white gold.” The entire output of shrimp and prawns has expanded from 160 million tons in 2002-03 to 245 million tons in 2016-17, a growth rate of 4.67 percent, according to the most recent figures from the Department of Fisheries.
Following garments, frozen shrimp and fish are Bangladesh’s second-largest largest exporter. These items are exported to over 50 countries, including Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States of America, China, France, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Shrimp from the districts of Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira are exported to numerous nations too.
However, Bangladesh is affected by a surge of adulteration in the shrimp sector, in which water, starch, and gelatin are injected into fish. This is causing exporters to fear for their businesses and farmers to suffer the consequences.
Although law enforcement organizations routinely raid fish warehouses and fine corrupt dealers, contamination has continued. Shrimp exporters are in fear of losing their global markets due to this. In many cases, exporters are ignorant of this issue while purchasing shrimp from dealers. Eventually, they had to destroy the shrimp after detecting such chemicals which is causing them financial loss.
The experts emphasized the need of instituting robust monitoring mechanisms to combat the issue. Furthermore, they urged consumers to be aware of contaminated shrimp.
Jaber Bin Abdul Bari
Dept. of Fisheries and Marine Science, NSTU
