A Critial Evaluation of Regulatory Regime in the Shrimp Hatchery of Bangladesh in Light of the EU Requirements

The hatchery Act-2010 was yet to be passed by the parliament at that time. Therefore, there were no particular Hatchery rules in Bangladesh. There was no definition of unsafe Post Larvaes (PLs) in the proposed Hatchery Act. Even no provision was found regarding the withdrawn of unsafe PLs from the market in the proposed Hatchery Act-2010. There was no hard and fast provision in the proposed Hatchery Act-2010 regarding the examination of PLs in an authorized laboratory. These provisions were also unaddressed by the running regulatory mechanisms in Bangladesh. Water is an important factor for shrimp hatchery having different physical and chemical parameters. According to EC regulation this provision was not mentioned in proposed Fish Hatchery Act-2010, but partially mentioned in Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Rules, 1997, amended in 2008, and not mentioned in others regulatory regimes (Shrimp sub Strategy, Department of Fisheries; National Shrimp Policy (Draft copy); National Fisheries Policy-1998; Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Ordinance, 1983). Scientific and commercial name of shrimp PLs should be informed to the farmers by the hatchery owners. But this was not indicated in the proposed Hatchery Act-2010. This provision was also unaddressed in Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Rules, 1997, amended in 2008, and others regulatory regimes (mentioned above). Size and production date of PLs are very important to the farmers for accurate feed management in culture system. Proposed Fish Hatchery Act-2010 did not reveal the size and production date of PLs, whereas only production date was addressed in Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Rules, 1997, amended in 2008. Mentioning of temperature, pH and salinity of water in the PLs carrying bag was not addressed in the proposed Hatchery Act-2010 and Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Rules, 1997, amended in 2008, and others. HACCP management, including good aquaculture practices, good hygienic practices and good environmental practices, was not mentioned in proposed Fish Hatchery Act -2010.

Keywords: Evaluation, Regulatory Regime, Shrimp Hatchery, Bangladesh, EU Requirements.