Fishermen back to bay as hilsa ban ends

Fishermen have returned to the Bay of Bengal in large numbers after the end of the 22-day ban, which was imposed to protect mother hilsa during their breeding season.

Thousands of fishermen have resumed fishing, hoping for good catches of the prized silver fish. Fishing boats are now moving across the 160-kilometre stretch of the Bay of Bengal.

The first catches have already begun arriving at riverside fish depots, bringing them back to life after weeks of inactivity. Fresh hilsa, along with pangas and other fish, are being brought ashore in plastic trays, and auctioneers' calls once again fill the fish landing centres.

Traders and workers, who remained largely idle during the three-week ban, are now busy buying and selling fish at the city's Fringi Bazar fish market. However, hilsa prices have remained almost unchanged, and larger fish continue to sell at pre-ban rates.

Fishing and trading activity was witnessed firsthand today between 7:00am and 11:00am at the city's Fisherighat. Many fishermen ventured into the Bay of Bengal after midnight on Thursday, and their boats began arriving at the ghat, adjacent to the Kotwali area, at daybreak.

There are around 80 small and large hilsa arat depots at the ghat. Fishermen bring their catches to these arat depots, where the fish are auctioned and sold within a short time. Very little fish is preserved for later sale.

Two categories of traders buy fresh hilsa from the landing centre: local retailers, who sell the fish at Fisherighat, and wholesale traders, who transport it to different upazilas.

Md Harun, a fisherman from Banskhali village near the ghat, said he went fishing at night and sold hilsa worth Tk12,800 at dawn.

"If we can continue to catch hilsa like this, we will be able to repay our debts within a few days," he said, expressing hope that hilsa would remain available throughout the rest of the season.

Another fisherman, Jahirul Islam, said 11 fishermen went out at midnight and sold their catch for Tk27,000. They planned to return to the river after a short break. He cautioned, however, that hilsa availability might decline within the next few days.

Depot owner Salauddin said hilsa prices were unlikely to fall soon because demand remained high. A one-kilogram hilsa is selling at Tk2,000 to Tk2,200, while fish weighing 400 to 500 grams sell at Tk1,000 to Tk1,200 per kilogram. Smaller hilsa weighing 200 to 300 grams sell at Tk400 to Tk500 per kilogram, he said.

He added that some fishermen were also catching pangas alongside hilsa. Large pangas are selling at Tk1,000 per kilogram, while smaller ones fetch Tk700 to Tk800.

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Salauddin said prices may decline if catches increase in the coming days.

Another depot owner, Md Abdur Rahim, said fish started arriving at the ghat this morning. The actual trend in arrivals would become clearer by today and tomorrow, he said, as in previous years the volume declined after the initial two days.

Arat owner Abdul Jalil said larger hilsa were arriving in greater numbers after the ban, while the supply of smaller fish remained very low. Although hilsa catches were still limited, fishermen were able to recover some of their losses by catching pangas alongside hilsa, he said.

Veteran fish trader Nurul Islam said the rivers used to be abundant with hilsa at this time of year. He regretted that enforcement drives had not produced the expected results, as some fishermen continued to catch mother hilsa.

Moshiur Rahman, Assistant Director of Marine Fisheries, Chattogram, told BSS that fishermen were now benefiting from the strict implementation of two drives aimed at protecting hilsa. One is a ban on catching juvenile hilsa (jatka) from 1 November to 30 June. The other is a directive not to catch mother hilsa in November next year, he added.