July 17, 2006

Shrimp virus attack spreads in Bangladesh 

Hundreds of shrimp farms in Cox's Bazar were affected by disease last week as virus attacked farms in Bangladesh's leading tourist resort.  

Shrimp farmers and fishery officials said the attack occurred after the water became contaminated due to over-flooding during heavy rains. 

The outbreak has devastated the local shrimp industry.

Abdul Hashem, a leading shrimp cultivator, claimed that about 1,000 out of 3,000 shrimp enclosures have been affected and fishes worth over BDT500,000 (US$7,164) were damaged in the farms.

Some farmers suspect that unplanned and unscientific cultivation with virus-affected imported fry could have caused the outbreak, while others blame indiscriminate use of growth-promoting chemicals.

The Chief Scientific Officer of Cox's Bazar District Fisheries Research Institution said there may be many reasons like decrease in salinity in water of enclosures, contamination of water, use of overdose medicine and having more water than needed in the enclosures.

However, the main cause of the disease was adverse weather, he said, adding that the effects would diminish naturally.

After examing some of the dead shrimps, Dr Shahdat Hossain, Senior Scientific Officer at the Institution that the shrimps may have been attacked by the 'white spot' disease.

Quick change of the enclosure water or timely shifting from the affected enclosure could have saved the shrimps, although it would have been difficult and expensive for farmers, he said.