FDA, JIFSAN Travel to Bangladesh to Teach Seafood Safety

November 2, 8:28 PMWorld History ExaminerDev Meyers

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Fisherman are going to his fishing boat at Saint Martin’s Island at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar.
Photo Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/18583040@N04/

FDA NEWS RELEASE  Nov. 2, 2009 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) have sent a team of seafood specialists to Bangladesh this week to help train local officials on aquaculture safety and quality control techniques.

The goal of the trip is to work with Bangladeshi officials to help the country improve the overall quality and safety of its aquaculture products for both domestic and international markets.

“Collaborating with other countries in this way not only helps to improve the quality and safety of their domestic product, but also what they export to the United States and other countries around the world,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for International Programs Murray M. Lumpkin, M.D.

The training will include lectures, demonstrations, site visits, and workgroup activities. Using a “train-the-trainer” model, those who successfully complete the program will be qualified to continue training others in their country on accepted “Good Aquacultural Practices.” The FDA and JIFSAN, supported by cooperative partnerships, also provide materials that allow the countries to continue the training programs.

"Because of the rapid development of aquaculture, FDA's role in protecting the public health is more important than ever,” said Stephen Sundlof, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Cooperative programs such as this will help ensure that accepted Good Aquacultural Practices are adopted and practiced around the world.”

Rubina (17), a housewife is catching fish from paddy field in Munsiganj union, Sathkhira, Bangladesh on 04 September 2009. Her husband is a fisherman. Most of the local women are living by fishing.
Photo Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons Lic

Aquaculture is the production of aquatic life such as shrimp, fish and plants under controlled conditions for all or part of their life cycle. Over the last 20 years, the aquaculture industry has grown by more than 11 percent each year. It is now the fastest-growing segment of agriculture worldwide, accounting for 52 percent of all fish produced. In the United States, about 85 percent of the seafood consumed is imported from more than 50 different countries. Of that amount, 40 percent comes from aquaculture operations, the other 60 percent from wild harvest.

Dublar Char.  Drying the fish.  Photo Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons Lic. /

The Good Aquacultural Practices Training Program was developed by a team of seafood specialists in 2006, and was piloted in Vietnam that same year. The international training program is a joint effort between the FDA, the University of Maryland, and Virginia Tech. Since then, the program has been conducted in Thailand and Indonesia.

JIFSAN was established in 1996 through a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Maryland and the FDA. Since then, more than 800 participants in 18 countries have been trained in Good Agricultural Practices, Good Aquacultural Practices, or Commercially Sterile Packaged Foods.

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Bangladesh Fishermen fixing the net Photo courtesy Flickr Creative Commons Lic