Problems and Prospects of Fish Fry Trade in Jessore District, Bangladesh

An investigation was carried out based on the survey of the problems and prospects of fish fry trade in Jessore district in Bangladesh. The survey was conducted on 82 nursery operators and 50 fry traders from different parts of the country. The objective of the study was to know the present status of the trade, identify the problems associated with the business, assessment of aids needed for the nursery operator and fry traders from Government and Non-government sector to make the business more furnished. The study was made on technical knowledge of the nursery operator, number of people involve, marketing channel, means of transportation, and facilities available. It was found that approximately 45000 kg hatchlings were produced from the 85 running hatcheries. But the actual number of hatcheries are around 200 in the study area. There were 400 nursery owners operating this business and 1621 lac fry of 1-4"size were produced from 82 studied nurseries. The fingerlings were distributed to 30 districts of the country. More than 200 fry traders came here and carried the fry by means of bus, truck, pick-up van, manual van and train. It was found that 45% fry were locally consumed and rest were distributed to the far way districts. It was also found that due to poor technical knowledge and improper transportation, fry mortality was high. Moreover, due to high lease value, lack of credit facility and terrorism, the nursery operators deprived of getting expected profit. Therefore, the government should give special attention in providing proper training and credit support for the development of this trade and to develop their technical skill.