In recent years forest dept. of Bangladesh government has started a practice of putting three months ban on catching fishes in the Sundarbans rain forest coastal areas. This year it took place and went off on September 1st, 2022.
Fishermen of Khulna’s Sundarbans coastal area having a busy time as the three-month ban has ended.
Fishermen who went fishing in the Sundarbans have caught many species of fish including Harina Shrimp, Chaka shrimp and wild caught Black Tiger shrimp as well.
After the first seven days of opening the Sundarbans coastal fishermen have returned to the coast after catching heap of fishes. They said that they found a lot of shrimp for them in the Sundarbans deep forest.
They are expecting to get more like this rest of the season as well.
Jamal Uddin, a fisherman from Maharajpur area of Koira, said,
‘After opening the Sundarbans on September 1st, went and started fishing. Got a lot of them.’
Rezaul Karim, a forest fisherman from North Bedkashi area, said, ‘I been expecting to get more since the ban on fishing in the Sundarbans went off and finally that happened. On the first day, I cast a net towards the “Kali” channel of the Sundarbans. when I pull the net, there are lot of shrimps. And the next few days I had many as well. ‘
Fish landing stations are now busy with workers activities. Fisherman’s success bring luck for the fish traders. They are spending a busy time buying fishes as per the requirements from their customers and sending them to different large markets.
Helal Uddin, a trader of Koira Deulia Bazar Fish Aarot, said, “We are buying shrimps at different prices according to their sizes. Fortunately there are not much of smallest sizes are coming in; fairly large sized of Harina shrimps are available I am buying them up to Tk 600-700 per kg.
Bagda shrimps or wild caught Black Tiger shrimps per mon (40 kilograms) are being purchased at Tk 40,000-45,000 (470-530 usd). But by course of time, price may decrease a bit.’
Koira Kasiabad Forest Station Officer Md. Aktaruzzaman said, “The density of fish in the Sundarbans increased due to the 92-day ban announced by the government. As a result, after many days fishes are being found in the Sundarbans. Hopefully the fishermen will get more fish when the full moon begins.’
Bangladesh Gov’t has taken many steps to increase the fish production from natural habitats, it is one of the project that has started returning the benefits.
Aminul Haque, Koira Upazila Fisheries Officer said that there are 13,526 registered fishermen in Koira who are eligible to catch fishes in the Sundarbans. The fish from the Sundarbans are supplied to the country’s local market and also get exported to the foreign countries.
