Hilsa catches scanty in peak season
Lowest in 25 years, say fishermen
Fishermen engaged in netting hilsa in Ramnabad River in Galachipa upazila of Patuakhali district during the ongoing peak season. Inset, the wholesale fish market at Mohipur sees scanty supply of the popular fish as trawlers are bringing very small catches in the peak season this year.Photo: STAR
Fishermen are frustrated as only small catches of popular fish hilsa are being netted in the coastal areas in the peak season. With the small amounts caught per trip in the deep sea, fishermen fail to realise even the cost that includes fuel, food and others. Consequently, families of fishermen are passing hard days. May to October is considered as the period for hilsa catching but fishermen from Patuakhali and Barguna districts, who went to the deep sea with trawlers, are not getting hilsa fish as per their expectation this year. "We went to the deep sea with our fishing trawler with 15 fishermen and came back to the shore after 14 days. We were able to catch only four maunds of hilsa, which is not even sufficient to meet our expenditure. We got only Tk 40,000 by selling hilsa fish but we have to spend about Tk one lakh in a trip. During the same period last year, we caught 25 to 30 maunds of hilsa in a trip," said Rafiq Mia, 40, a fisherman of Char Montaz in Galachipa upazila. "We are engaged in catching hilsa for about 25 years but we did not see such crisis of hilsa in this season. We are passing very hard days as poor amount of hilsa is being netted. May be the fish has changed its places in the sea due to food crisis and rise of sea bed with silt," Mofizur Rahman of Char Biswas said. Sohag and Enamul, fishermen of Char Anda, said they are now unable to repay the loan taken from mohajans (money-lenders) as they are not getting hilsa fish as per their expectation in the running season. "We had expected that large sized hilsa would be netted in this season. My experience says that huge hilsa is netted if the sea is very rough. In last year in the same time at least 200 maunds of hilsa came to my warehouse daily but this year we are getting only 25 to 30 maunds a day," Anwar Hossain, a wholesaler of hilsa fish of Moudovi area under Galachipa upazila, said. "Fishermen are coming back with nearly empty trawlers as very small catches are being netted this season. Usually fishermen pass very busy time with hilsa catching during this time of the year," said Belayet Gazi, president of fishing trawler owners association in Moudovi.
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