Bangladesh and Botswana have agreed to identify potential areas of cooperation in agriculture, livestock and fisheries and exchange technical knowledge and expertise in the agriculture sector. Both sides agreed to continue discussions in agriculture and fisheries at the government, farmers and expert levels. Bangladesh's State Minister Md Shahriar Alam, who is on a two-day official bilateral visit to Botswana, met with Botswana's Minister of Agriculture Fidelis M Malao in Gaborone Friday (February 10, 2023). Shahriar was accompanied by the Bangladesh High Commissioner in Pretoria, foreign ministry officials and embassy officials. Read More: US sees huge potential to grow its relations with Bangladesh: Counselor Chollet The Botswana delegation was represented by high officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, including representatives of the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Fidelis said Botswana is connected to many countries of the region by land routes. The Botswana government is putting special focus on developing the country's fisheries and aquaculture sectors, he added. Shahriar said his visit to Botswana marked the first foreign ministry delegation visit to Botswana and expressed satisfaction over the conclusion of the visa waiver agreement for holders of diplomatic and official passports and memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral political consultations between the countries. Read More: Business Eswatini for signing MoU with FBCCI He briefed the Botswana side about Bangladesh's achievements in the agriculture sector during the last decade, including the production of food staples, vegetables, fisheries, poultry and livestock, despite having a comparatively low amount of land. He called on the Botswana side for considering providing contract farming opportunities to Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in the unused agricultural land.  Bangladesh already initiated contract farming in other countries in Africa on a low scale, Shahriar added. "Cooperation may be forged among B2B and B2G levels on contract farming."

Already hit-hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, when tourism and fisheries sectors in Kuakata are trying to make a recovery, frequent load shedding have dealt another blow. Bearing the brunt are hotel and motel owners in Kuakata, wholesale fish traders in the district’s Alipur and Mahipur landing stations, and trawler owners. When the government decided to stop buying liquified natural gas (LNG) from the international spot market because of a sharp price hike in July, the power supply situation began to deteriorate. Daily hour-long area-based load shedding started across Bangladesh from July 19, 2022 to tackle the ongoing energy crisis. Owners of hotels, motels, ice mills and fish traders said they are counting huge losses due to incessant power cuts. Read More: Kuakata Sea Beach, Bangladesh: Magnificent sunrise, sunset views to remember Motaleb Sharif, General Secretary of Kuakata Hotel Motel Owners Association and Owner of Kuakata Guest House, said that the number of tourists in Kuakata is dwindling due to rampant load shedding. “There are a total of 150 big and small hotels and motels in Kuakata. Although these establishments were abuzz with tourists, this isn’t the case anymore. We’re frustrated with up to six load shedding every day. Tourists are losing interest because of the inconvenience,” Motaleb said. He added that although they had informed the Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury about the problem and demanded establishment of a power sub-station in the area, no steps have been taken yet. Rahim Khan, owner of Khan Palace, said that refrigerators and air conditioners are being damaged due to the frequent power cuts. Read More: Dead dolphin washes ashore on Kuakata beach “We have to spend more than what we earn from the boarders. We experience load shedding even on weekends, which is discouraging tourists. Although a 1320 MW thermal power plant has been set up in Payra, people of Patuakhali are yet to reap its benefits,” Rahim said.

Bangladesh and the Maldives on Thursday agreed to exchange knowledge in the areas of fisheries and agriculture alongside the exchange of agreements for cooperation in health and sports sectors and avoidance of double taxation. “Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) and I (Mohamed Solih) also agreed to exchange knowledge and assistance in the areas of fisheries and agriculture,” said President of the Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in a joint press statement after bilateral talks between the two sides at his office here. He said they also discussed ways to expand economic and trade cooperation, increased connectivity and tourism between Bangladesh and the Maldives. Also read: Hasina for tapping Bangladesh-Maldives’ full trade potentials The agreements exchanged today are on Avoidance of Double Taxation; MoU on the Recruitment of Health Professionals; the renewed MoU on collaboration for the improvement of healthcare systems and addressing public health challenges; and the MoU on Cooperation in Youth and Sports Development, will contribute to further advancing our bilateral cooperation, said the Maldivian President.

Gurudev Haldar, a local fisherman, caught an 18.2-kg Catla fish from the Padma River at Char Karneshna in Goalanda upazila early Saturday to change his fortune. Talking to local newsmen, the lucky fisherman of Pabna Kajirhat said he along with his associates went out on a predawn fishing mission in the river. Read Researchers find way to save Kakila fish from extinction: BFRI At one stage, Gurudev and his men netted the giant Catla and later sold it in an auction fetching a huge amount.  Mohammad Chandu Mollah, a local fish trader, bought the fish at Tk 25,400 -- Tk 1,400 per kg – in the auction at a local fish market adjacent to Daulatdia Ghat in the morning. Now Chandu expects to sell it at Tk 1,500 per kg. Read Hilsa Ilisha: The National Fish and Silver Pride of Bangladesh About the river condition and availability of fish, Chandu said, “The river water has started receding with the weakening of monsoon, and many fish like Catla, Rui, Boal, Pangas are now found in abundance. Fishermen from Manikganj and Pabna districts are having a good time with amazing catches,” he said. Mohamamd Rezaul Sharif, a fisheries official of Goalanda, said huge fish are expected to be netted now as Padma water keeps receding. Read How Jashore’s fisheries output grew in the midst of a pandemic

Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute is currently on a roll and writing one success story after another in its quest for artificial insemination of endangered indigenous species of fish and the latest one has come in regards to Kakila. The institute, which has won the Ekushey Padak in native fish conservation research, hopes that these achievements will have a huge impact in the conservation of endangered indigenous fish as well as contribute to higher production of native fish in the country. While talking to UNB, the researchers of BFRI said that at one time indigenous species of fish could be found in abundance in inland waters, but many of these have either disappeared or on verge of being extinct due to damage to habitats and breeding grounds triggered by climate change, natural disasters and other man-made causes. Read: How Jashore's fisheries output grew in the midst of a pandemic But scientists working in the Jashore centre of BFRI have recently made huge progress in inventing artificial breeding techniques for such species of fish. They have achieved this after three years of intensive research. The chief scientific officer of BFRI Jessore substation Dr Md Rabiul Awal Hossain, senior scientific officer Shariful Islam and scientific officer Shishir Kumar Dey conducted the study. Consider Kakila, once found in plenty in inland fresh water bodies including rivers, ponds and haors’ (a wetland ecosystem in the north eastern part of Bangladesh). Read Hilsa Ilisha: The National Fish and Silver Pride of Bangladesh The onion meals made out of Kakila are like nectar to the foodies. It is not only a tongue pleaser, but this fish is also rich in beneficial nutrients for the human body. Researchers told UNB that per 100 grams of edible kakila fish contains 16.1 per cent protein, 2.23 per cent lipid, 2.14 per cent phosphorus and 0.94 per cent calcium which is much higher than other small fish. According to the scientists, Kakila, (Xenentodon cancila, Scientific name) is recognised as Freshwater garfish  in English. It belongs to the Belonidae family of fish. Read: Khulna shrimp farmers fighting to regain business amid pandemic Apart from Bangladesh, the fish is found in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand. However, there are some differences in colour and size.

In the midst of the most significant economic slowdown in decades, the fisheries sector in coastal district Jashore proved a mainstay for the economy in the 2020-21 fiscal, that helped Bangladesh avoid recession or even contraction. Bangladesh’s GDP growth fell from 8.2% in the 2019-20 fiscal to just 3.8% in 2020-21 – theslowest annual growth in the country’s GDP in 30 years. That represents a slump in economic activity that would have been unacceptable in normal times. But in a year blighted by the virus where we saw most countries experience contraction in their economies (negative growth), Bangladesh’s 3.8% was the fifth-highest GDP growth rate in the world. Read Hilsa Ilisha: The National Fish and Silver Pride of Bangladesh The economic downturn brought on by the pandemic affected almost every sector in the country. The impact was pervasive yet uneven. This was the general picture reflected in most economies around the world. For the record, the world economy did fall into recession in 2020, with the IMF's final assessment estimating it shrank 3.3%. The fisheries sector emerged as one of the major pillars holding up the economy and helping Bangladesh to avoid a recession. Technically, a country’s economy enters recession once it experiences two successive quarters of negative growth, or contraction. To get out of a recession then requires two successive quarters of growth back. Read: Hilsa prices rise as catch from the Padma dries up  

The carcass of a humpback whale washed ashore on the Himchhari beach adjacent to Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf marine drive on Friday morning. Locals found the rotting carcass when the tide was receding. “We suspect that the whale died a week ago. Samples from the carcass have been collected for tests. The reason behind its death can be known after a necropsy,” said SM Khalequzzaman, the Cox’s Bazar District Fisheries Officer. Read Dead tiger’s autopsy done in Bagerhat The 44 feet long whale is believed to be about 17 years old, said marine biologist Jahirul Islam. Khalequzzaman said this species is seen in the Bay in the south-western part of the Sundarbans. The last time a whale washed ashore here was in 2008. In 1991, another whale carcass had washed ashore on Laboni beach. Additional Deputy Commissioner Amin Al Parvez told reporters that they would try to determine the cause of the whale’s death and bury it as soon as possible. Read Whale 'swallows' sea lion: 'It was a once-in-a-lifetime event'

The government has drafted the national marine fisheries policy for the sustainable conservation, management and extraction of marine fish in the country’s vast sea areas.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim on Saturday said the government seeks to promote fish farming in cages, known as  cage culture, in the country. “We’re promoting fish farming in cages acros

Egypt has expressed interest to help Bangladesh to boost production of fish and livestock.