BNP wants to go to power in an unconstitutional way, said Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim on Sunday. “The current government will hand over power to the elected government, and it is a constitutional process, but BNP and its associate bodies deny the process, which means they do not follow the path of the constitution. Whatever they say is contradictory to the constitution,” he said The minister said this while speaking at a programme held at Jatiya Press Club in the city. If the BNP does something unconstitutional, according to the constitution of the country, it is called treason, and according to article 7(a) of the constitution, their actions are tantamount to treason, he said. Read more: BNP MPs resigned to impede democracy: Hasan Mahmud “If they fail to follow the right path of politics they will not be found with a microscope,” said Rezaul. “If the BNP continues their anti-public activities they will face an existential crisis.” Read more: 5 BNP MPs submit resignation to JS Speaker

Dhaka, May 11 (UNB) -- Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim on Wednesday said new technologies are being installed in 10,000 fishing vessels to detect those in the sea.  He revealed the information while speaking at a meeting on fishing ban in the Bangladesh maritime boundary for 65 days from May 20 to July 23 at Matsya Bhaban in the capital.     “The works to install the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) at all commercial fishing trawlers under sustainable coastal and marine fisheries project implemented by the Department of Fisheries are underway,” he said.  Through the installation of VMS and GSM, authorities can identify the position of the licensed fishing trawlers and can monitor these, Rezaul said adding that if fishing vessels violate the rules and regulations, then there will have a chance to take punitive action against those.   He also said none can catch fish in the sea violating the law and the mobile courts will take action against the violators as per the rules.  Also Read: Over 90 lakh cattle sacrificed this year on Eid-ul-Azha: Livestock Ministry On the other hand, it should be considered that no helpless fishermen are harassed, he said adding local administration, navy and coast guard, and river police will take measures considering the situation.   Fishermen will be benefitted from the preservation of the fish and the government is only working for the interest of the fishermen and the common people, he added.      Mentioning that Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) will be provided only to real fishermen during the banning period of catching fish in the sea, the minister said integrated measures should be taken by the Department of Fisheries and Forest Department for preserving fish of the Sundarbans and the fisherman.   Fisheries and livestock secretary Dr. Mohammad Yamin Chowdhury, additional secretary Shyamal Chandra Karmakar, Md. Toufiqul Arif, SM Ferdous Alam, Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation chairman Md. Hemayet Hussain, and director-general of the Department of Fisheries Mahbubul Haque were, among others, present.     

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim on Saturday said a vaccine policy will be formulated soon to control avian influenza. “A technical committee will be formed soon to formulate a vaccine policy to deal with avian influenza. The quality of vaccines being produced in Bangladesh will be improved further,” he said. The minister said the production of vaccines for all other diseases will be increased on the basis of their growing demand. “We’ve the capacity to do that. If necessary, more laboratories will be set up in the country.” He made the remarks while speaking at a seminar on the effectiveness of the avian influenza vaccine and strengthening the vaccination programmme at a city hotel. The Department of Livestock, Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations jointly organised the seminar. Read: Dhaka to receive 30 lakh more Sinopharm jabs this month

The research and survey vessel, ‘RV Meen Sandhani’, has so far detected 457 species of marine fish and animals in the Bay of Bengal since 2016, said Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim in Parliament on Tuesday. The survey ship is cruising since 2016-2017 to assess the stock of marine resources and conduct researches and surveys. It has so far conducted 31 surveying cruises, he said replying to a tabled question from Awami League MP M Abdul Latif (Chattogram-11). “A total of 457 species of fish and animals were detected through the surveys,” said the Minister. Of these, 373 marine species are of fishes, 24 shrimps, 21 sharks and rays, 21 crabs, 5 cuttlefishes, 5 squids, 4 octopuses, 3 lobsters and 1 squilla. The survey vessel, equipped with the latest technology of fisheries and other oceanographic research, was procured from Malaysia in 2016 after Bangladesh got a vast sea area through the disposal of longstanding disputes with the two neighbouring countries — India and Myanmar. Besides, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Institute of Marine Research (IMR) conducted a 15-day acoustic survey cruise in the Bay of Bengal by the latest marine research vessel ‘RV Dr Fridtjof Nansen’ in August 2018. Per capita fish consumption is 62.58 gram a day: In reply to another question from ruling party lawmaker Shahiduzzaman Sarker (Naogaon-2), the minister said per capita fish consumption in Bangladesh is 62.58 gram a day. He said per capita fish demand is 60 gram a day, but per capita consumption is 62.58 gram, according to the report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. In terms of consumption against the demand, Bangladesh has attained self-sufficiency in fish production, he added. The fish production was 45.03 lakh metric tonnes in 2019-2020 fiscal in the country, said Rezaul mentioning different measures taken by the current government for the development of the fisheries sector.

The government has no plan to export hilsa now and not even in the next five years.

Covid-19 has walloped Bangladesh's apparel sector and remittance earnings. Many have returned home unemployed while thousands have become jobless inside the country.

The Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Bill, 2020 was passed in Parliament on Monday, aiming to ensure harsher punishment for marketing and exporting fish or fish products with harmful chemicals. Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim moved the Bill in the House which was passed by voice vote. The punishment for violation of the law is maximum five years imprisonment, Tk 5 lakh fine or both. According to the existing Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Ordinance, 1983, the maximum punishment is six months’ imprisonment, Tk 5,000 fine or both. The Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Bill has been framed for the protection and expansion of the export market of Bangladeshi fish and fish products, and for supplying quality ones to the local markets. Without having license, no-one can export fish and fish products, set up or run a factory or any establishment in this regard as per the proposed law. As per the bill, licenses can be revoked on different grounds, including violation of conditions mentioned in the license, providing false information or concealing information, failure of renewing license for three consecutive years, and handing over and selling the license. If the inspection officer finds unhygienic environment in factories or establishment or sub-standard quality of processing during inspection, the administrative penalty would be maximum Tk 5 lakh fine. Also read: Parliament passes Marine Fisheries Bill

The ‘Marine Fisheries Bill, 2020’ was passed in Parliament on Monday with a provision for maximum three-year imprisonment or Tk 5 crore fine or both for fishing illegally within Bangladesh’s maritime boundary by any foreign national.

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

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim on Wednesday said that the government is formulating a policy to safeguard the poultry and dairy industries of the country.