DHAKA: Cabinet on Monday approved National Shrimp Policy-2014.

The premier Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting at the secretariat.

The cabinet secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan disclosed the matter to media after the meeting.

He said that shrimp, the second largest export product of Bangladesh, earned Tk 3,376 crore last year.

Some 15 million people are directly and indirectly involved with this sector, he added.

According to the secretary, though shrimp was included in the national fishery policy of 1998, the fisheries and livestock ministry has made a separate one now for shrimps emphasizing its importance.

The main objectives of this policy include development of the shrimp quality, increasing production, training and research, biodiversity conservation and specifying cultivation areas.

Mosharraf Hossain also said that the policy was made to ease the environmental and ecological balance, developing people's nutrition level, marketing, expansion of export markets and achieving economical growth.

The secretary added that the private sector will play a vital role in this sector where the government will act as a catalyst.

BDST: 1851 HRS, AUG 18, 2014