The speakers at a discussion meeting held on Thursday called for boosting the marine fish production aside from sweet water fish production

Earlier, Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Elius Hossain inaugurated the National Fisheries Week-2018 through releasing balloon in the air on Chittagong Circuit House premises.

While speaking as the chief guest at the ceremony, the DC of Chittagong urged the fisheries department to take initiatives to conserve and boost the fish resources of the country.

The speakers at the meeting informed that around 1.82 crore people of Bangladesh are now involved in fish cultivation and business. Around 24.41 percent of our agricultural production comes from the sector that contributes to about 3.61 percent in the gross domestic product.

Sixty percent of the country's total demand for animal protein comes from the fishery sector. Additional fish production might help meet the rest of the protein demand of people, they said.

With Chittagong District Fisheries officer Mominul Haque in the chair, the meeting was addressed by fish farmers, representatives from Marine Fisheries Office, Bangladesh Coast Guard and Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

Chittagong District Fisheries officer said that Bangladesh secured third position in producing fish from inland water-bodies, behind China and India, according to a report of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Bangladesh is now also the fifth biggest aquaculture producer in the world. In the 2016-2017 fiscal, Bangladesh produced a total of 41,34,000 metric tonnes of fish, including a first-time surplus of 84,000 tonnes, he said.

Later, fish fries were released at Askar Dighi in the city.