Over the past decade, shrimp farming, widely known as “white gold,” has transformed lives and landscapes in the coastal district of Bagerhat. The region’s shrimp now reaches international markets, generating nearly Tk 3,700 crore in revenue in the current fiscal year. While the sector is often praised for its profitability, farmers and environmental activists in the area present a sharply different narrative.
They say the uncontrolled expansion of shrimp enclosures is reducing arable land and increasing soil salinity across farmlands that remain under cultivation. As a result, many local residents are facing mounting challenges. Although shrimp farming has created prosperity for some, growing salinity is severely affecting traditional agriculture, damaging the environment, and posing risks to public health.
Agricultural officers and environmental experts warn that although shrimp farming delivers short-term gains, it may cause long-term and irreversible harm.
Local accounts indicate that vast tracts of cultivable land—from Rampal and Mongla to Morelganj and Bagerhat Sadar—have been converted into shrimp ponds. While this shift benefits large leaseholders and investors by boosting export potential, small-scale farmers and day laborers are bearing the costs. Many families have lost land, taken on debt, and struggled with unproductive soil.
Siddiqur Rahman from Putikhali village in Morelganj said all his land once produced rice. Today, he cultivates rice on only 2.5 bighas, with the remaining 5 bighas consumed by shrimp enclosures.
In Teligati village of the same upazila, farmer Alam Sheikh said his full 5 bighas are now used for shrimp farming, leaving him unable to grow rice. He said the commercial success of shrimp farming hides substantial losses, as saline water from surrounding enclosures has contaminated thousands of acres of farmland. Declining crop yields have forced many small farmers to lease their land at low rates.
A 2024 joint study by the Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) and the Department of Agricultural Extension in Bagerhat found that soil salinity in various parts of the district has nearly doubled over the past decade. The rapid and unregulated spread of shrimp farms was cited as a major driver of this increase. During the dry season from March to April, salinity levels in the Pashur, Doratana, Panguchi, and Ghasiakhali rivers rise to 15–30 deci-siemens per meter—far beyond the tolerance limits of rice and most other crops.
In 2020, Bagerhat had 184,841 hectares of agricultural land. By 2024, that figure had fallen to 160,861 hectares. Although cropping patterns remain largely unchanged, with 61 percent single-crop land, 27 percent double-crop land, and 11 percent triple-crop land, cropping intensity has increased from 151 to 154 percent. The predominance of single-crop land indicates its vulnerability to salinity intrusion, making conversion to shrimp ponds more likely.
Sheikh Nur Alam, Khulna divisional coordinator of the environmental group “Dhoritri Rokkhay Amra,” said climate change-driven salinity increases have caused severe agricultural decline. He noted that shrimp farming, which began in the 1980s, has severely damaged the agricultural ecosystem. Not only rice but vegetables, bananas, and other crops are affected, along with public health.
He said that although shrimp exports bring in Tk 3,000 to 4,000 crore annually, the resulting damage to agriculture, the environment, and public health exceeds Tk 50,000 crore. He argued that unplanned shrimp cultivation should be stopped or strictly regulated.
According to the Bagerhat District Fisheries Office, bagda shrimp is now cultivated on 52,551 hectares, producing 20,940 metric tonnes, while golda shrimp occupies 19,773.3 hectares, producing 19,716.3 metric tonnes. Combined output has resulted in nearly Tk 3,700 crore in revenue this fiscal year, almost equal to the national total of Tk 4,000 crore in the previous year.
Bagerhat’s Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Md Motahar Hossain, said industrialization, urbanization, and rising river salinity are the primary reasons for declining cultivable land. He noted that salinity now begins infiltrating farmland as early as November, whereas previously it began in January, leaving crops highly vulnerable by March and April. To address this, the department is promoting salt-tolerant crops and encouraging the conversion of single-crop land into double-crop systems.
He added that in many cases farmers are being pressured to convert agricultural land into shrimp ponds, which may bring short-term gain but poses long-term threats to livelihoods and the environment.
