Industrial fishing destroys tradition advisor warns

Fisheries and Livestock Advisor Farida Akhtar said, "The interest shown by the youth in working in the fishing sector is very encouraging. Turning fishing into an industry will destroy its original character. Internationally, the harmful aspects of industrial food production will affect it in many ways.

I am happy that you wrote entrepreneur instead of industry. Because entrepreneurs do much creative work.

The advisor made these remarks while delivering his speech as the chief guest at the day-long "Fisheries Entrepreneur Summit-2025" at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center this morning to accelerate innovation, sustainable development and the advancement of young entrepreneurs in Bangladesh's fisheries sector.

Fisheries and Livestock Advisor Farida Akhtar has commented that the new generation is Bengali on poultry rice. She said, "We call ourselves Bengali on fish rice. But are our young generation Bengali on fish rice? They become Bengali on poultry rice. They often do not want to eat anything other than eggs and meat. The new generation should be fed fish."

He also said, "Children must be taught to eat small fish. One of the crimes of fish is that they have scales. They won't eat them for scales; that won't happen. We need to teach them to eat fish with scales. We need to work to popularize fish."

The advisor said fish production is at risk due to water pollution and the filling of water bodies. Our country has so many diverse fish. Along with this, there is also a diverse environment. Unfortunately, our rivers have become polluted. The use of pesticides in agriculture has increased. Our water bodies are filling up. And if this continues, fish will not survive. Since the problems are related to different ministries, everyone has to work together. He called for working towards producing safe food in the country for future generations.

Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan, managing director of Bizman Media Limited, delivered the welcome speech under the chairmanship of the additional director general of the Department of Fisheries, Zia Haider Chowdhury. The discussion was attended by Suraiya Akhtar Jahan, Chairman of Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation; Md. Abu Bakr Siddique, Chief Advisor of Bizman Media Limited; Mohammad Abdul Mannan, Chairman of Fast Security Islami Bank PLC; Obaid Ullah Al Masud, Chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, and others.