Khulna University's Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology (FMRT) discipline on Saturday organised a workshop titled ‘Are Bacteria A Threat to Sustainable Mud Crab Aquaculture of Bangladesh?’
The workshop was inaugurated by Khulna University (KU) Vice-Chancellor Dr Prof Mahmud Hossain.
Speaking as the chief guest, he said crab farming can play a significant role in protecting the environment of the Sundarbans. Extraction of crab fry from natural sources is causing loss of biodiversity in coastal areas including the Sundarbans. It is possible to reduce this loss by producing fry in hatcheries.
The Vice-Chancellor said crab farming could create one of the alternative employment opportunities for the people dependent on the Sundarbans. Research on crab farming should be continued and the research results should be taken to the field level. And as a result of these research activities, the reputation of KU will increase and students-researchers will benefit.
Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof Dr Mosammat Hossain Ara, Dean of the School of Biology Professor Khan Golam Quddus, Member-Director of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (Fisheries) Dr Md Monirul Islam and Chief Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute and Co-Ordinator of Sub-Project 029 Dr Md Zulfiqar Ali spoke as a special guest at the opening ceremony.
The inaugural ceremony was presided over by the head professor of FMRT discipline Dr Muhammad Abdur Rauf presided over the programme while the welcoming remarks were made by Prof Dr Gauchiatur Reza Banu. The programme was conducted by the chief researcher of the project, Professor Dr AFM Hasanuzzaman.
The workshop was attended by teachers, researchers, officials of various government and non-government departments, field level farmers and others.
Notably, researchers from Khulna University have already been able to identify the breeding season of crabs. Moreover, multifaceted research is going on.