Cyclone Remal: Bagerhat fish farmers incur loss of around Tk300cr
Farmers said tidal surges and heavy rains devastated their enclosures
Around 35,000 fish and shrimp enclosures were washed away when cyclone Remal hit the country, resulting in losses of around Tk300 crore.
During a recent visit to Rampal upazila of the district, this UNB correspondent found many embankments broken by the tidal surge, inundating vast area.
The picture of fisheries damage is almost the same in different areas of Sadar, Rampal, Mongla and Morelganj upazilas of the district.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Farmers said tidal surges and heavy rains devastated their enclosures.
Almost every year, shrimp enclosures in this region are destroyed in various natural disasters. Previous storms like Yaas, Bulbul, Aila, and Sidr also wreaked havoc, causing huge financial losses of the farmers.
Samir Baran, a shrimp farmer, said, "Water entered my eight bigha of shrimp enclosures due to the tidal surge caused by Cyclone Remal, leading to losses amounting to several lakhs."
He is losing his interest in shrimp farming due to the series of losses.
Anwar Hossain, another farmer from Chanditala in Rampal, said that the shrimp enclosures are damaged almost every year due to various natural disasters. "But this time Remal took almost everything."
Mohitul Islam Sumon, president of the Shrimp Farmers Association, said the shrimp farmers have lost almost everything due to disasters one after another.
He said shrimp and various fish enclosures worth Tk300 crore were washed away in the district due to Cyclone Remal.
In this situation, to protect the shrimp industry from natural calamities, Mohitul Islam called for interest-free loans and life insurance for farmers to support them.
ASM Russel, the district fisheries officer, said: "A total of 35,000 fish and shrimp enclosures were washed away, with preliminary estimates showing losses of Tk 70 crore for shrimp and Tk 3 crore for infrastructure."
He also emphasised the urgent need for financial assistance and loans on favourable terms to help affected farmers.
According to the fisheries department, Bagerhat district has 74,700 fish enclosures on 56,000 hectares of land where 55,000 fish farmers are engaged in this profession.
