{"id":20032659,"date":"2020-04-01T12:31:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T07:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=32659"},"modified":"2021-01-06T21:41:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T16:11:04","slug":"coronavirus-destroys-bangladeshs-crab-exports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/coronavirus-destroys-bangladeshs-crab-exports\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus destroys Bangladesh\u2019s crab exports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Crab farmers and traders in Bangladesh\u2019s coastal areas are on the brink of destitution as exports are indefinitely postponed after the Covid-19 outbreak. The losses started well before the pandemic reached Bangladesh, because China \u2013 the main market for the crabs \u2013 imposed an import ban on January 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swapan Mandal, general secretary of the Rampal-Bagerhat Crab Dealers Association, said that large quantities of crabs were usually sold during the Chinese New Year festival. But due to this year\u2019s ban, many crabs have died already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crabs produced in the country\u2019s three coastal districts around the Sundarbans \u2014 the world\u2019s largest mangrove forest that straddles the Bay of Bengal coastline of Bangladesh and India \u2014 are also exported to Japan, Taiwan, Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia. China accounts for around 85% of the exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be a disaster for us if the situation does not improve and we are not able to export again soon<\/blockquote>Kazi Mahabubul Alam Azad, Secretary of the Bangladesh Live Crab and Eel fish exporters Association<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Kazi Mahabubul Alam Azad, Secretary of the Bangladesh Live Crab and Eel fish exporters Association, said the export of crabs to China had been totally suspended from January 25 to mid-February. \u201cLater we started exports to some provinces of China at a very limited scale. But from March 23, the exports were stopped again as the Bangladesh government has shut all airports in this country. If the situation improves the exports may resume on April 5.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the main problem is that we have not got any payment for what has been exported already this year. Our buyers have not paid us yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss in this sector has reached BDT 4 billion (USD 46.90 million) already, Azad estimated. \u201cThe marginal farmers are facing most of the losses.\u201d The industry employs nearly 500,000 farmers<\/a>, most of them with very small landholdings and living below the poverty line.<\/p>\n

\"A
In March 2019 Asadur Zaman, 28, a young fisherman, posed for photographs. He sells crab that he catches from the river in the Sundarbans, in Khulna [image: Alamy]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAfter January 25, we were exporting only a few consignments to the European market, on a very limited scale.\u201d Azad said. With the suspension of flights, that market has also closed down. \u201cIt will be a disaster for us if the situation does not improve and we are not able to export again soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price crash<\/strong><\/p>\n

As demand crashed, the price of crabs in the domestic market has fallen by two-thirds. \u201cWe used to sell quality crab at BDT 2,500 (USD 30) per kg, which is now around BDT 800-900 (USD 9.40-10.50),\u201d Azad said.<\/p>\n

And even at the price, there is a lot of unsold stock, as local consumption of crab and eel is low. Bangladesh\u2019s crab farmers are almost entirely dependent on exports.<\/p>\n

The once buzzing crab and eel markets in the coastal districts Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira are now deserted.<\/p>\n

Tapash Mandal, a crab farmer in Saral village of Paikgachha sub-district in Khulna district, borrowed BDT 450,000 (USD 5,300) and started fattening crabs in a one-acre plot that is periodically inundated by brackish water. Buying one kilogram of female crab at BDT 500 (USD 6), he used to sell them for BDT 1,500 to BDT 1,800 (USD 18-21) after fattening.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this year I could sell crab worth Tk 30,000 (USD 354) only. I had nearly one ton of crabs in my farm which I could not export. All of them died. I sold only a little in the local market. I have lost almost BDT 700,000 (USD 8,200) this season. I\u2019m not sure how I\u2019m going to repay my debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Climate change impact<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many farmers in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira had been forced from paddy to shrimp farming two to three decades ago, as sea level rise due to climate change made the water and the soil too saline for paddy. But shrimps are highly vulnerable to diseases, especially when packed as they are in the shallow brackish waters of the shrimp farms. So many shrimp farmers moved to crabs<\/a>, initially lured by the promise of a lucrative market in Japan. Over the last five years or so, crab fattening and eel farming have become very popular in the coastal districts due to the high prices they attract in international markets.<\/p>\n

In the financial year from April 2007 to March 2008, Bangladesh\u2019s earnings from crab exports totalled USD 7 million. There has been a big increase since then.<\/p>\n