Nirmal Kumar Mandal, the leader of the forest department’s smart patrol team, provided details of the operations, stating that during patrolling in the Kalir Khal area of Gahin forest, three fishermen were spotted in a boat. Upon being asked to produce valid permits for entering the Sundarbans, they failed to do so. Consequently, a search of the boat led to the discovery of 200 illegal crab fishing traps, and the three fishermen were promptly arrested.

Subsequently, the smart patrol team raided the Pushpakathi Canal area of the Sundarbans using a trawler. However, upon sensing the raid, fishermen abandoned seven boats and fled the scene. Although no arrests were made, seven boats and 700 tons of illicit crab fishing equipment were seized.

Assistant Conservator of Forests of Khulna Range, A ZM Hasanur Rahman, emphasized that crab harvesting is officially prohibited in the Sundarbans during January and February, which are the breeding months for crabs. Despite this prohibition, some unscrupulous fishermen have been intercepted by forest guards while illegally entering the Sundarbans and engaging in crab fishing. In such instances, their boats and crab fishing paraphernalia are confiscated, and the arrested individuals will face legal proceedings under the Forest Act, leading to their subsequent imprisonment.

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About 30% of Cambodia’s land area is covered by wetlands, and this area supports one of the largest, most diverse, and most intensive freshwater fisheries in the world. The freshwater and marine resources of Cambodia are generally rich in biodiversity. Due to population growth, climate change, and advancing fishing technology, the consumption of fish and seafood has increased in recent days. Similarly, Phnom Penh is seeing an increase in demand for Scylla mud crabs, another coveted seafood.

Since seafood demand has grown in recent years, aquaculture and culture-based fisheries have been essential to household incomes. Since Phnom Penh is landlocked, there are few opportunities for aquaculture.

Yet the Capital’s Meanchey district has seen a modern mud crab farm pioneered by a young Cambodian engineer with no previous agricultural experience. Odom Tithya, the owner of Phnom Penh Mud Crab Farm, began by using 60 square meters of his family’s backyard as a space for his business.

He describes how he started his business: “Initially, I noticed that local seafood eateries lacked crabs, with shrimp and squid dominating the menu. In response, I came up with the idea of introducing Scylla mud crabs to the market.”

In order to master the technique, he had to overcome numerous problems because Covid-19 had moved teaching online, he explained.

In Tithya’s opinion, the scarcity of such farms contributes to the high demand for his farmed mud crabs.

“The perishable nature of the product makes sourcing it from the local market difficult and expensive. Its future potential, therefore, lies in this business,” he said.

In Tithya’s opinion, he entered the Phnom Penh mud crab industry early on. Although he was a civil engineer, he was fascinated by the prospect of crab farming. Taking advantage of online resources, he gained knowledge from Malaysian and Philippine practices.

According to Tithya, crabs are not raised from an early age, unlike traditional methods. Upon acquiring mature crabs, he stores them in storage-like boxes until sale, notably from Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong provinces. With this innovative technique, hygiene can be guaranteed and prices can be competitive with those from sea-based farms.

Currently, he is growing 1,000 different types of mud crabs, with prices ranging from 20,000 riel to 120,000 riel per kilogram ($5 to $30). In addition to restaurants and seafood sellers, individuals are the primary clients.

As the business model develops, Tithya anticipates significant profitability.

“Let’s say I have 1,000 boxes in my farm. My sales can reach 300-400kg a day if I sell 500 crabs to a restaurant and replenish the boxes. Several thousands of dollars could be generated by this business at $20 per kg,” he said.

Aquaculture in landlocked cities is not a new concept. Denver, for example, is tackling sustainable seafood in a landlocked city. Punjab’s landlocked Bathinda district is the site of India’s second freshwater aquaculture research center. Moreover, Landlocked Midwest cities of the United States are now home to fish farming. The tiny mountainous landlocked country Lesotho, which is entirely surrounded by South Africa, became famous for its fishing industry.

It is, however, a relatively new concept in landlocked Phnom Penh to raise Scylla mud crabs. Nonetheless, it has a long future ahead of it.

In addition to shrimp and squid, Tithya plans to expand the business to more shops in Phnom Penh. Furthermore, due to its modest time requirements, it is suitable for those seeking part-time work or enhancing their skills.

Jaber Bin Abdul Bari
Department of Oceanography, NSTU

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The new directive is aimed at streamlining the process of obtaining cash incentives for exporting frozen crabs and frozen soft shell crab. Previously, the certification from BLCFEA was required for an extended period of time. However, with the latest circular, the certification from BFFEA has now become mandatory for obtaining subsidies.

Though the condition of submitting the BLCFEA certificate along with the subsidy application for the export of live eel fish and crabs remains unchanged. This directive will be effective immediately for products shipped on or after April 25th.

Despite the new rules, the government of Bangladesh will continue to provide cash incentives ranging from 1 to 20 percent for the export of 43 types of products, including crabs and eel. The cash incentives are aimed at promoting and increasing the country’s exports of seafood products. It is important to note that Bangladesh has been exporting live crabs to China and Southeast Asia, as well as soft shell crabs to European countries like the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain and France sometime after 2014.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the first crab worth two thousand dollars was exported from Bangladesh in 1977. Since then, exports of crabs have been increasing. However, despite the increase, exports from Bangladesh are still not significant compared to other countries.

In conclusion, the new directive issued by the Bangladesh Bank will make it easier for exporters to obtain cash assistance for exporting frozen crabs and soft shell crab. With the change in the certification requirement, the government aims to streamline the process and encourage more companies to export seafood products.

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Mud Crab Farming in Bangladesh:

Mud crab farming is growing in popularity in Bangladesh’s coastal areas. It is a promising potential exportable item and a source of income for Bangladesh’s coastal underprivileged people.

The geographical location and climate of Bangladesh, make it the most fertile coastal region in the world. Mud crab farming is ideally suited to Bangladesh. Because of the natural condition, Mud crab farming has become simpler in the coastal districts, Satkhira and Cox’s Bazar regions. Availability of brackish water, ideal salinity and temperature conditions made favorable for crab farming in this area. Mud crabs are more resilient to harmful environmental factors and the effects of climate change than shrimp. For that reason, many shrimp farmers are switching over to mud crab farming in Bangladesh.

There are three kinds of farming group activities that have been overserved in the Satkhira area. The primary group of farmers collect the crablets from the suppliers. Then the crablets are reared till to a certain weight stage to sell again to the secondary farmers group. Now the 2nd group of farmers purchase them for fattening and once they reach optimum weights, they sell them to the exporting entities. There are other group farmers, who rear mud crabs for collecting the molted one which is called “soft shell crab”.

The process of soft shell crab farming involves maintaining crabs separately in plastic containers in brackish water ponds. Supplementing their diets, and harvesting the crabs right after molting, when the exoskeleton is shed. In Cox’s Bazar, soft shell crab farming is taking place recently on a very small scale. But there are thousands of hard sell crab farmers in 6 upazila of Cox’s Bazar. This number is increasing every year.

The Sundarbans and coastal regions of the Cox’s Bazaar are the primary sources of crab seeds used in the current mud crab aquaculture. Crab seeds are found in abundant numbers throughout the long coastal line. Seed supply is entirely dependent on wild sources. A significant amount of crab seeds is being taken because of crab farming in Bangladesh due to the increase of crab farmers. Every year for a certain period of time, crab seed collection is prohibited by the rule of the department of fisheries to protect the biodiversity

Crab hatchery can be the best answer for biodiversity risk. There’s a govt crab hatchery at Kolatali, Cox’s Bazaar. Unfortunately, it was closed from a few days after the inauguration program back in 2019, due to the absence of a technical person. There are a couple of other crab hatchery initiatives available in the country with the association of PKSF. One at Shyamnagar, Satkhira and another one at Kolatoli, Cox’s Bazaar.

Exporting Potentiality of Crabs in Bangladesh:

Bangladeshi mud crabs are exported to many countries around the globe. Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong are importing hard shell live mud crabs. Where Japan, South Korea are mostly importing live frozen soft shell crab. Australia, USA and EU countries are importing soft shell crabs from Bangladesh as well. The Netherlands and Germany are the top soft shell crab importer among the EU nations.

Bangladesh’s crabs already have a good reputation among the importing countries. This sector now requires more exposure and new markets to excel. Bangladesh Mud Crab industry is still in the learning stage compared to other crab exporting countries. So, it can be an opportunity for the foreign importing entities. Among many, companies like Handy Inc, DNI group from USA, Fisherman’s Choice, Seafood Connection from the Netherlands are importing soft shell crab from Bangladesh. These companies know their business very well and it’s evident Bangladesh’s crab industry is on the right track.

According to EPB (Export promotion) data, during the current FY22-23, so far $5.27 million has been earned. Whereas in July to Dec FY21-22, it was $11.82 million. Ongoing recession has a great impact on the export trend all over the world. Bangladesh is no different.

According to Shafiqul Alam, live crab exporter, “We mostly ship crabs to China where there is a great demand for it”. During the winter, hard shell crabs are frequently available, according to Alam. The industry has some difficulties. We have a limited number of countries where we can export. Additionally, there are times when flights are full and shipment of live crab gets delayed. Which resulted in huge loss for the death of the crabs. He urged the government to pay extra care and incentives for boosting crab exports.

Along with solving existing issues, we found out, there should be more crab hatcheries to supply crab seeds to the farmers. During the peak season, farmers are always in shortage. If the supply is ensured, this sector can generate 3 folds of foreign revenue than the regular.

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In Satkhira, soft shell crab farming has started from 2015 in a scattered way and now it’s a principle source of income for many people in that zone. Sudhanshu Shekhar Mandal once went to the Gharilal area of ​​Satkhira a few years ago and saw crab farming there. He then got motivated and planned to farm soft shell crabs in the same fashion. Mr. Mandal is the first person to start farming soft shell crab at Koyra upazila under Khulna district. In 2021, he leased two bighas of land for 18 thousand taka per year and started experimental crab farming. At that time there were only three thousand crabs in plastic boxes. That year he successfully cultivated 13,000 crabs in boxes. Last year 9 thousand kg of crab was produced. However, he expects that 25 thousand kg of crab will be produced this time.

This type of crab farming is quite simple. This method requires hundreds of plastic boxes floating in the water. Each box contains crabs (Scylla serrata). A crab of average size is put in the plastic box and placed on the surface of the water. While packing the crabs into the box, sometimes the smaller legs are removed, leaving only the two claws. It makes the crabs molt faster. Once they molt, the outer shell remains, that’s why it is called the “Soft Shell Crab”. Though within an hour or half, the outer shell grows hard again. These soft shell crabs are quite a seafood delicacy for many countries in the world.

There are frequent inspections of the plastic containers by the staff. They check whether any of the crabs have molted or not. Every 3-4 hours they check on the crab boxes. If they find a dead crab in a box, pick it up and bury it under the ground. Tilapia fish pieces weighing 5 to 8 grams are given to each box as food for the crabs every four days. Narayan Barman and Madhav Mondal, workers of his crab farm, said “we dug the enclosure five-six feet deep for crab farming. We do not use any type of fertilizer in the enclosure”.

According to Sudhanshu Shekhar Mondal, once they molt, boxes are cleaned with clear water and put back into the enclosure again. More or less in 15 days crab molts.  After collection of the soft shell crab, they are sold to different exporting factories from a place located near to the Burigoalini Forest Office in Satkhira. He makes roughly 5 lakh 50 thousand taka (USD 5500) selling 1000 kg of crab. In the dull season, the price of a kilogram of uncleaned soft shell crab is BDT 600-700 (USD 6-7); but, in peak season when the demand soars in foreign markets, prices can rise up to BDT 1400 – 1700 (USD 14-17) locally. Once the soft crabs are purchased, the processing factories clean and process them for export according to the buyer’s requirements. Soft shell crab season is from April to November every year. During winter, crabs don’t molt.

“Previously, there was just one box crab farming farm in Koyra, that was Tapu Soft Shell Farm,” stated by Koyra Upazila Fisheries Officer Aminul Haque. Within a year, a few more had constructed such farms. Box crab farming is a lucrative business. This approach does not waste food, and crab mortality is relatively low. Farmers can easily and rapidly open boxes and gather crabs to sell when crab prices climb.

By establishing these types of crab farms and avoiding the inherent dangers of fishing at sea or in rivers, this form of artificial farming is considered as a successful step towards making local fishing communities financially stable. This is significant since the government has taken stringent efforts to prohibit fishing at particular seasons in order to conserve stocks. The majority of crab growers reside in coastal areas, where the restriction has a significant impact on their livelihood.

The scenario is no different for Koyra upazila. Crab farming is providing locals with a fresh reason to be optimistic about an economy that had previously relied only on shrimp farming. The locals see this as a promising source for economic growth. And Sudhanshu Shekhar is the pioneer of crab farming in Koyra.

Jaber Bin Abdul Bari
Dept. of Fisheries and Marine Science, NSTU

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