Advisor Warns Against Antibiotic Misuse in Aquaculture, Calls for Subsidies in Fisheries and Livestock Sector
The Fisheries and Livestock Affairs Adviser, Farida Akhter, has stressed the urgent need to ensure that the food people consume does not become a source of disease. She emphasized the importance of controlling antibiotic use in fish farming and expressed frustration over the lack of government subsidies for the fisheries and livestock sectors. “We often hear about subsidies in agriculture, but the fisheries and livestock sectors are deprived. These sectors also deserve subsidies,” she said. She further described the reliance on ‘average calculations’ while assessing the country’s overall nutrition landscape as a dangerous trend.
She made the remarks on Friday, 28 November, while speaking as the chief guest on the second day of the four-day international conference and workshop titled “Political Commitment in Agriculture and Food”, organized by the Bangladesh Agricultural Journalists Forum (BAJF) at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka.
Experts, scientists, economists, and stakeholders from home and abroad participated in the event.
During the seminar titled “National Livestock Week: Fisheries and Livestock for Nutrition Security,” speakers warned that unregulated feed and antibiotic use in aquaculture may lead to a severe rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the future. Immediate control measures are essential to safeguard public health. The adviser reiterated this concern, adding that using average figures to determine national nutrition levels can mislead policymakers. “Do not assess the nutrition of the poor based on the income of the rich,” she said.
She stressed that many livestock breeds extinct in other countries still survive in Bangladesh, making them invaluable national assets. Protecting local breeds of fish, meat, and livestock is now a national priority, she noted.
Highlighting the importance of preserving diversity in the rural food system, Farida Akhter said that many people in fish-producing regions cannot consume their own local fish. Citing Sunamganj as an example, she said local fish there are of exceptional taste, yet many residents are forced to eat farmed pangas. She urged journalists to reveal such realities.
BAJF President Sahanowar Said Shahin presided over the event, which was attended by Director General of the Department of Fisheries Dr. Md. Abdur Rouf; former Director General of the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) Dr. Kazi Imdadul Haque; ACI Agribusinesses President and Group Adviser Dr. F. H. Ansari; Chairman of ACI Feeds Industries Limited Mosharraf Hossain Chowdhury; and BLRI Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Md. Sajedul Karim Sarkar.
In his remarks, BLRI’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Sajedul Karim said the institute has developed 97 technologies to ensure nutrition security. Genetic improvements in milk, egg, and meat production, fodder technology, and advanced research have significantly enhanced the country’s nutritional capacity.
Highlighting new export opportunities in fish feed, ACI Feeds Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Chowdhury said Bangladeshi-produced fish feed is now entering international markets, opening new horizons for export. However, he called for special export incentives to make the sector sustainable.
Stressing the need to strengthen value chains, ACI Agribusinesses President Dr. F. H. Ansari said a robust agricultural value chain reduces the pressure of middlemen on farmers and helps stabilize food prices. He emphasized the need for coordinated management from research to processing and marketing.
Former BLRI Director General Dr. Kazi Imdadul Haque called for long-term research policies to ensure sustainability in agriculture. He identified climate change, shrinking farmland, and weaknesses in pricing policies as major challenges.
The four-day conference was co-sponsored by ACI Feeds Industries Limited and supported by ACI Agribusinesses, PRAN–RFL Group, Lal Teer Seeds Limited, the World Poultry Science Association (Bangladesh Branch), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Forest Department, Department of Agricultural Extension, Department of Fisheries, and Department of Livestock Services.
DBTech/FS/EK/OR
