US embassy cable - 05DHAKA2309

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 002309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, PGOV, SENV, PHUM, BG 
SUBJECT: LABOR CONDITIONS IN THE BANGLADESH SHRIMP 
PROCESSING INDUSTRY 
 
 
1. (SBU)  Summary: While Bangladesh wants to increase its 
annual shrimp exports from $300 million to a billion dollars 
over the next decade, current labor practices undermine its 
ability to boast productivity and win new markets.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (U) Bangladesh's second largest export, after ready made 
garments, is processed shrimp.  In 2004, it shipped $300 
million worth of shrimp to the EU and US.  Most of the shrimp 
processing, the de-shelling, de-veining, and packaging, takes 
place in the city of Khulna, located 350 kilometers southwest 
of Dhaka.  Khulna, on the Kunga river within the water- rich 
Sundarbans region of Bangladesh, is also close to Mongla 
port, making it a logical location for shrimp processing for 
export. 
 
3. (U) The majority of shrimp processors have plants that 
front the Kunga river.  Shrimp is brought in from nearby 
shrimp farms which are former rice fields now flooded with 
the brackish water of the Sundarbans.  The farmers raise the 
fry or hatchlings to market size in the ponds, with some 
farmers using pesticides and antibiotics to increase yields 
and the size of their shrimp.  The farmers take on debt to 
buy the fry from wholesalers in the hopes of reaping a large 
return on their investment.  However, once they flood their 
fields with the brackish water, returning the land to other 
uses requires eliminating the salt.  Consequently, many are 
locked into raising shrimp. 
 
4.  (U) Shipped to the processing plants on locally 
constructed ships, the shrimp are transferred from the boat 
to the processing plants by young boys aged eight to 12 and 
paid less than half a taka per kilo.  (There are 60 taka to 
the dollar.)  The transfer is done in small baskets with the 
boys balancing the loads on their heads across dirt roads to 
the processing plants.  There is an unloading quay for the 
several processing plants but, like most infrastructure in 
Bangladesh, it is barely adequate. 
 
5.  (SBU) Once in the processing plants, the shrimp are 
chilled and placed in large stainless steel buckets where the 
shrimp are washed.  Many of the workers are women, mostly in 
their mid 20s.  Many are glad to have the work in this very 
rural part of Bangladesh where even college graduates rarely 
find work.  The shrimp processing industry is new and many 
workers started out in their teens.  Using children as young 
as 12 is, while not common, more the rule than the exception. 
 
 
6. (U) Outside a processing plant, poloff observed several 
young girls wearing rubber boots. They said they worked in a 
nearby processing plant where they weighed bags of processed 
shrimp.  When asked their age, one said she was 14 years but 
the other girls giggled and said she was only 12 like them. 
In response to a question if they liked working the 
processing plant, they said it was cold and they don't have 
gloves.  As a result, their hands dry out from being in water 
and cold all the time.  She showed poloff her hands which 
were chapped and still white from immersion in water. 
 
7. (U) Older women, those in their 20s, perform the peeling 
and de-veining of shrimp.  However, in some processing 
plants, small children are sometimes used to peel the shell 
from the shrimp.   One plant manager explained, "Where the 
women work, so go the children" meaning that without day care 
the children have no choice but to stay with the female 
parent.  However, some women actually prefer taking their 
children with them to work.  In such cases, women who have 
permanent employee standing have asked to be retained as 
contractors and to paid by the weight of shrimp peeled. 
Being paid by weight, the use of children is advantageous to 
the contractor/employee, but being a contractor means when 
the seasonal down time comes, they are the first to be let go. 
 
8. (U) Due to climatic conditions, monsoons and the breeding 
cycle of the various types of shrimp, there are peak and 
slack seasons. Most workers admit that there is really only 
sufficient work 10 months of the year.  During the down 
times, some workers are let go while others are given other 
tasks to perform tasks unrelated to their normal work.  For 
example, if they are peelers, they may be given jobs such as 
mopping floors or moving equipment.  However, during peak 
times, many work up to 14-16 hours a day.  Many managers 
defend such practices, noting that they are at the mercy of 
the weather and the intensive nature of shrimp farming; all 
the shrimp grow best and mature according to the season. 
 
9. (SBU) Many owners defend their practices by saying that 
the shrimp processing business is very competitive and they 
need every advantage possible to reduce costs and improve 
their competitive edge.  Other owners see value in fairer 
labor practices and are working with USAID's Shrimp Seal of 
Quality (SSOQ) program.  Participants in this program agree 
to adhere to a high degree of sanitary conditions, high level 
of sound processing practices including not using shrimp 
raised with antibiotics or pesticides, and maintaining fair 
labor practices and working conditions.  Such practices 
assure US and EU wholesale buyers that the shrimp they 
purchase conform to modern and fair industry practices. 
 
10. (SBU) Comment: Both the Bangladesh government and the 
shrimp processing industry see potential for the $300 million 
a year industry to grow into a billion dollar industry within 
ten years. While the BDG supports the SSOQ, the majority of 
processors resist improving working conditions citing the 
need to maintain a high level of productivity. 
THOMAS