Bangladesh exports fish and fish products to more than 50 countries around the world. Shrimp is exported the most, but shing, koi, boal, mola, kachki, batashi, rupchanda, bhetki, air, pabda, taki and other fish are also exported.

Export earnings from the sector, however, are lower than five years ago. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh earned Tk 4,253 crore 31 lakh ($500.39 million) from exports of fish and fish products in the fiscal year 2018-19 just ended. The previous year's earnings were Tk 4,309 crore, so earnings fell by Tk 56 crore in a year.

On 30 June, the day the 2019-20 budget was passed, Fisheries and Livestock State Minister Md Ashraf Ali Khan gave parliament five years of data on the sector's export earnings, in reply to a written question from Md Afzal Hossain, the ruling party MP for Kishoreganj.

The minister's figures show that five years ago, in 2014-15, export earnings were Tk 4,660 crore. They were then Tk 4,282 crore in 2015-16 and Tk 4,287 crore in 2016-17. Bangladesh is now third in the world for fish production from natural sources.

Asked why exports were falling, Ashraf Ali Khan did not give a direct answer. Speaking to Prothom Alo at his office on 4 July, the state minister said new markets are being sought to boost exports, and as part of this a team led by him will go to Russia.

The minister told parliament that the European Union (EU) countries, along with the United States, China, Japan and Russia, are the main importers of Bangladesh's fish and fish products. Exports also go to Canada, Mexico, Australia, Singapore, Mauritius, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, Vietnam and other countries. Among neighbours, fish and fish products are exported to India, Nepal, the Maldives and Myanmar.

Falling earnings also mean falling export volume year by year. The state minister's figures in parliament show that Bangladesh exported 83,524 tonnes of fish and fish products in 2014-15, then 75,337 tonnes in 2015-16, 68,305 tonnes in 2016-17, 68,935 tonnes in 2017-18 and 68,655 tonnes in the first 11 months of 2018-19.

Shrimp makes up most of the sector's exports. According to the state minister's figures, of the 68,655 tonnes exported in 11 months of the last fiscal year, 31,158 tonnes were shrimp. Of total 11-month export earnings of Tk 3,845 crore, shrimp brought in Tk 2,916 crore. The remaining 35,148 tonnes of exports earned Tk 899 crore 30 lakh.

The fisheries state minister said that in 2017-18 the country produced 42 lakh 77 thousand tonnes of fish against a target of 42 lakh 20 tonnes. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the fisheries sector now contributes 3.57 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from 3.61 per cent previously. FAO data from July last year show Bangladesh is now third in the world for fish from natural sources, after China first and India second.

Fish producers and exporters say there is no foreign investment in the sector, even though there is scope for it, and neither the government nor the private sector is making any effort to attract investment. Top-level officials of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock also acknowledge this.

Source: Prothom Alo. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.