Iftekhar Hossain:
In Bangladesh, farmers usually have to rely on nature for two reasons in the production of crabs. One of which is crab food and the other is crab fry. Crabs in open water bodies survive by eating the fish food they find in nature. On the other hand, crabs cultivated in enclosures or cages are fed low-cost snails, tilapia and other sea fish. But using, collecting and preserving fish as food is difficult, and this is gradually increasing their dependence on nature. Meanwhile, excessive collection of food and fry in natural ways is having an adverse effect on nature due to inequality. To resolve this crisis and increase production, there is a need to provide supplemental food to crabs cultivated in enclosures or cages. What could that food be? A group of researchers from Noakhali University of Science and Technology (Nobiprobbi) conducted research to find out.
Researchers at Nobiprobi took the initiative to develop a new supplementary food for crabs. And for the first time in the country, Professor Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun of the Fisheries and Marine Science Department of Nobiprobi and his team succeeded in inventing this supplementary food for crabs. The newly invented food is named ‘NSTU Crab Feed’ after the name of Noakhali University of Science and Technology. Although this type of crab food is popular in Australia and Vietnam outside the country, this is the first in Bangladesh. This food, rich in 45% protein, has been made suitable for eating by crabs of different sizes. Therefore, it is being fed as food to crabs grown in both enclosures and cages. This has greatly reduced the farmers’ dependence on nature. In addition, the production and export of crabs have increased.
Professor Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun, the head of the research team, said that since 2014, small and large soft-shelled crabs have been frozen and exported abroad. Due to which it is having a serious impact on nature and the ecosystem has started to deteriorate. Even small crabs are not being spared from export.
Considering this situation, in 2022, he started a research program with the financial support of the Sustainable Coastal and Marine Fisheries Project under the Department of Fisheries. Globe Agrovet, Irwan Trading Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Science University were associated as research partners. The results of the research show that crab farming is possible in enclosures and cages and that the desired nutritional value is also obtained by giving them supplementary food. Therefore, farmers are currently interested in producing crabs through supplementary food rather than depending on nature. Therefore, the newly invented food has been considered a suitable food for crabs.
Researcher Dr. Mamun said that at the beginning of the research, a study was conducted on the traditional food system of crabs in Cox’s Bazar. Later, 80 farmers from Cox’s Bazar and Satkhira were selected on a large scale. The selected farmers were selected from the Noakhali University of Science and Technology, Kankar, Hatchery, Noakhali University of Science and Technology, No. 3814, Public Relations and Publications Department, No. 3814 The Department of Crab Breeding and Hatchery provides fry, supplementary food and technical assistance. Through them, various aspects of crab food produced in enclosures and cages are monitored. In addition, the rearing of mother crabs, the use of shelters to prevent predation, stocking density, etc. are monitored.
Currently, seven students from the same department are engaged in research on various aspects of crabs at the postgraduate level. They are conducting research on crop diversification or arrangement, i.e. ‘Polyculture of crabs, shrimps and white fish’. In this regard, the research team is open to providing technical assistance to various entrepreneurs, hatchery owners, feed industry and other stakeholders, which will accelerate the fisheries sector.
Author: Assistant Director (Information and Public Relations), NSTU.
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