In Dumuria, Khulna, snails are being gathered without restraint from canals, beels and open water to speed the growth of giant freshwater prawns and pangas. Shelled and cut up, the meat is fed to the fish on farm enclosures. The animals are declining in the wetlands, shell waste is fouling the surroundings, and children are being drawn into the unhealthy work.
According to the Department of Fisheries, giant prawns are farmed on 13,150 hectares in the upazila and pangas in more than 550 enclosures. Fish farmers Aminur Rahman Gazi and Bimal Krishna Biswas said snail meat makes fish grow faster, so both demand and the price have gone up.
A hundred snails now sell for Tk 25 to 30, and shelled meat for Tk 60 to 65 a kg. Amal Kumar Roy and Anita Biswas of Bilpabla village said gathering snails earns them Tk 400 to 500 a day. Sacks of snails also arrive by truck from Gopalganj, Faridpur, Bagerhat, Jhalakathi and Kushtia.
The shells are broken beside roads and in shacks. Hasina Begum and Jobayda Begum of Hasanpur village said one person can break about three sacks a day for Tk 400. Two children aged six and seven said they help their parents without pay. District civil surgeon Sheikh Sufian Rustam said such children risk skin disease, stomach ailments and diarrhoea, and that sharp shells can cause serious wounds.
Senior fisheries officer Soel Jillur Rahman Rigan said snails act as a natural filter for water and that killing them damages biodiversity. Farmers are regularly advised to use company feed, boiled rice, wheat or broken grain and bran instead of snail meat.
Sheikh Selim Akhter Swapan, an environmental worker with the organisation Uttaran, warned of the danger from shells left lying around and called for prompt action. Upazila executive officer Sabita Sarkar said using children for this work counts as child labour and is banned by law, and that steps would be taken quickly after inquiries.
Photo: Symoum Syfullah Priyo / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Source: samakal
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