Fishermen, who should be reaping the benefits of the season, are returning with disappointingly small catches. As a result, prices have surged, and even Khulna’s largest hilsa traders at the well-known 4 Number Ghat have reported a significant decline in stock.

Abu Sayed, a fourth-generation hilsa trader, highlighted the severity of the situation, noting that this season has been unlike any other. He shared that only 3-4 maunds (40 kg makes maund) of fish are arriving daily, compared to the typical 200-300 maunds.

The Khulna Fisheries Department has attributed the scarcity to reduced river depths and insufficient rainfall, which have prevented the fish from entering the rivers in their usual numbers.

In local markets, the scarcity is evident in the pricing. Hilsa weighing 500-600 grams is currently being sold for Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,200 per kilogram, while larger fish, weighing up to 1.3 Kg, are fetching up to Tk 2,200 per kg. Retailers express concern that at these prices, selling fish has become unprofitable.

Consumers, like Manoj who visited Nirala Market, are frustrated by the situation. He expressed his disappointment, saying, “This year, I haven’t been able to buy hilsa for my children. The prices are just too high.”

As the shortage continues, both consumers and traders in Khulna are anxiously waiting for an improvement in the situation, hoping for better catches in the near future.

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The most significant and most abundant single species caught in both inland and marine waters in Bangladesh is the ilisha shad, or Tenualosa ilisha. The culture and tradition of the people of Bangladesh are inextricably linked to hilsa. It serves as Bangladesh’s national fish as well. Throughout the whole Indo-Bangladesh subcontinent, this fish has great popularity due to its flavor, taste, and culinary qualities. In addition to making a significant contribution to global fish output, Hilsa also has a significant impact on food, nutrition, employment, and foreign exchange revenues. However, overexploitation, environmental deterioration, and other anthropogenic activities were reducing its output, particularly in the freshwater habitat.

To protect brood hilsa and jatka during the ban periods, the Department of Fisheries (DoF) created alternative employment opportunities for 30,000 affected fishermen families and distributed 10,000 authorised nets throughout the country. Some fishermen are appointed as guards for a monthly pay of Tk 10,000 to monitor illegal fishing and notify local fisheries officer. They encourage other fishermen to refrain from fishing during the prohibition time as well. Others compensated for their loss by purchasing cows to raise and keep working throughout the prohibition time.

Despite an increased tendency in the overall catch, the output of hilsa fish has been growing less quickly each year recently. The unlawful catching of brood and jatka hilsa, widespread usage of outlawed gillnet, and the effects of climate change, such as unpredictable rainfall, are some of the causes. To stop indiscriminate fishing and the destruction of aquatic animals, the gillnet a small-mesh net constructed of monofilament synthetic nylon fiber that is particularly successful at catching vast numbers of fish has also been outlawed in the nation since 2001.

It was discovered that the spawning cycle of hilsa tightly synced with the lunar cycle and that hilsa spawn primarily during full moon and new moon. Additionally, it was discovered that hilsa should breed from late afternoon to early evening. However, the level of maturity and abundance of ripe hilsa varies depending on geographic locations, water currents, the availability of food, and other environmental factors. Every year, during the high tides of the full moon and new moon, a large number of completely ripe and oozing male and female hilsa fish come up in the river and estuary for spawning. The fishermen catch enormous quantities of oozing hilsa during this period.

Since the fisheries had been in decline for a number of years, people had begun to become concerned. Freshwater and marine water catch have increased day by day as a result of the conservation strategy and fishing ban operations that have been in place since 2001. As a result, Bangladesh’s Hilsa catch has been seen to remain largely steady up to this point. The management plan’s adoption has raised hilsa fish output while also enhancing the major fishing industry’s economic and social wellbeing and the fishery’s sustainability.

Farhana Islam
Agriculturist, Researcher
Fisheries Resource Management, CVASU

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