2. Marketing and export/ import:
Almost all farmed produced shrimps are exported as processed frozen seafood and are the second-largest export item in Bangladesh. The contribution of fisheries sub-sector to the total export earnings during 2010-11 was 2.73%. Presently 82 processing plants are in operation, all are HACCP certified and licensed by DoF for export of fish and fish products to European Union (EU), USA, Japan, Russia, Korea, China and India. In order to find out new market destination, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock have already sent a proposal to sign MoU with five East- European Nations for exporting fishery products. As a consequence of repeated Rapid Alert System of Food and Feed (RASFF) against Bangladeshi freshwater prawn being contamination with Nitrofuran metabolites especially Semicarbazide (SEM) in May 2009. Bangladesh Government had been imposed a six-month voluntary ban on the export of freshwater prawn to the EU market. The number of RASFF was increased in 2009 because of adopting faulty protocol by Belgian testing laboratory. The Belgian laboratory started testing shrimp with tail and exoskeleton instead of flesh. Under these circumstances, Bangladesh along with donors and private initiatives undertook several measures to identify sources of Nitrofuran contamination. As well as the country has been engaged in an international residue expert to research the issue.
Finally the fact was identified that live crustaceans are able to synthesize SEM naturally and accumulate it in their shell and tail. In order to check the quality of exported shrimp the EU authority has imposed a 20% mandatory testing requirement at border entry of European countries. MoFL along with DoF took serious measures to rectify the controlling measures, legal provisions as well as monitoring measures of food contamination. As a result, the EU authority has lifted the 20% mandatory testing requirement of exported products at the EU border and it is notable that this mandatory requirement still prevails in some large shrimp exporting countries. Fish is exported to foreign countries, other than India, through Chittagong and Mongla Ports. Of late, some fish and shrimp are also being air-freighted to the Middle –East, and U.K. from Dacca. Until recently, fish used to be exported to India from many different centers. It has now been decided that the BFDC will control all fish export to India through five selected points viz., Barisal, Khulna, Sylhet, Narayanganj, and Fardipur.
2.1. Equipment import
The major imports of equipment since 1972 consist of trawlers (from USSR, UK, Denmark), marine engines (from USSR, Denmark, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Germany), Synthetic twine and ropes (from USSR, Denmark, Japan, Norway), boat-building timber (from India), refrigeration complexes (from Japan, Denmark), ice plants (from Denmark, Norway, Rumania), a fishmeal plant and a shark liver oil plant (from Denmark), a fully equipped inland fishery research vessel (from Denmark), refrigerated and insulated lorries (from Rumania, Japan) and training equipment for marine fishing (from USSR).
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