More than two lakh people directly involved in shrimp cultivation in Cox’s Bazar district will be the worst sufferers of the recent import ban on Bangladesh by European Union (EU). growers said.

As local businessmen and owners of fish freezing plants are reluctant to buy shrimp after the news of the ban, prices are plummeting at the rate of 10 per cent everyday, they said.

Since early this month, prices of all kinds have gone

down by at least Tk 3.000 per maund. according to Iqbal Mohsin of Moheshkhall Fisheries Ltd at Cox's Bazar town.

Mohsin said the ban has affected all involved in the business. The price will decline further during the coming spring tide of the lunar face when shrimps are collected In a large scale, he said. He feared that the price might go down to Tk 1.000 per maund within a few days.

Local fisheries officials

blamed the owners of fish processing plants for the crisis.

The EU had been warning the government and frozen food exporters for long and asking to develop the plants and Improve hygienic conditions around the factory, but they failed to comply with the criteria given by the EU. said a local official of the Department of Fisheries.

Despite being trained several times, he said, owners and technicians of seven processing

plants in this coastal district could not properly follow the EU criteria which pushed them into this miserable condition.

However, an owner of a local shrimp processing plant gave a different view, saying that the EU conditions were very strict and complicated for which government help didn't come.

At least Tk 25-30 lakh is needed to renovate a processing plant for developing it up to the EU standards, according to Zi-aul Hasan, owner of Cox's Bazar

Sea Foods Limited.

The government and banks did not provide necessary funds for developing the processing

Shrimp is cultivated In a total of 30 thousand hectares of land spread over five thanas of the district. Chokoria and Mo-heshkhali are two key places where more than 70 per cent of the total shrimp firms are located.

There are 12 fish processing units out of which only six are

operational. Lutfur Rahman Kazal. vice president of Nlriblli

Fish Feed Ltd., said the ban has frustrated farmers who have reduced buying fish feed.

"We had been selling 400 bags of fish feed on an average every day. which has now dropped to only 10 bags per day. Kazal said. He fears he would not be able to realise about Tk two crore in sales on credit if the EU ban continued.