64 species of fresh water fish face extinction: Minister

State minister for fisheries and livestock M Ashraf Ali Khan Khosru on Monday informed parliament that 64 species of fresh water fish in the country face extinction.

Of them, he said, nine are critically endangered while 30 endangered and 25 vulnerable.

Replying to a question from ruling party member of parliament Manjur Hossain, the state minister presented the statistics citing a report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

He also said about 13 species of fish in the Kaptai Lake in Rangamati and Khagrachari districts are on the verge of extinction.

Responding to a starred question from treasury bench MP M Shahiduzzaman Sarker, the minister said the country is self-sufficient in fish production.

“The country has already become self-sufficient in fish in terms of the net per capita demand of fish intake,” he said.

Khosru said though people’s per capita daily fish demand is 60 grams, the country’s per capita fish intake stands at 62.58 grams.

Despite the self-sufficiency in fish production, he said, businessmen are importing some fish from different countries, including India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Uruguay, Thailand, China, Japan, Vietnam, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to meet the demand of affluent section of people.