Shrimp farms on some 30 acres of land at Sobulia village in Fulpur upazila were completely washed away by the flood last week. And farms on around 20 acres of land at Kamaria, Balia and Bakhai villages in same upazila are in peril.

Fisheries Department officer at Fulpur Arifur Rahman Tarafdar said the farmers released 6,000 to 10,000 fries in a pond stretching one acre and one fry cost them Tk 5 to Tk 7.

Farmers in the villages started shrimp farming in 2003. They made good harvest last year, although they failed to make their farms profitable.

They were hoping for better harvest this year but it now appears to be a distant dream with gushing floodwater from the Brahmaputra and its tributaries washing away most of the fries.

Quazi Monirul Haq, president of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association, said the government should rehabilitate the farmers so that they can restart the venture after flood.

"It was a bold move to cultivate lobsters in non-coastal area. It is important for the country to increase exports of shrimp," he said.

As all shrimp farms and hatcheries are located in the coastal belts, they are not usually affected by flood. Shrimp export is Bangladesh's second largest foreign exchange earner after garments.

He, however, said that they may face problem if Dhaka-Chittagong highway is de-linked as they will be forced to switch to the Mongla Port from the Chittagong Port.