Abu Raihan of the Ramganj Bazar area in Nilphamari Sadar bought just 10 ornamental fish to brighten his home. The fry they produced got him interested in breeding, and in four years he has become a commercial ornamental fish farmer, Krishi Shomoy's Nilphamari correspondent reports.
He paid Tk 500 for those 10 fish in 2020. He now raises 30 species in 36 concrete tanks in his yard, with about Tk 500,000 worth of fish on the farm, among them several guppy strains, platinum dumbo, albino koi, blue head samurai, red Moscow, balloon molly, zebra fish, glow tetra, koi carp, comet and Mickey Mouse platy.
He sells through a Facebook page, 'Rangin Macher Khamar Nilphamari', where buyers from across the country contact him, and wholesalers from Saidpur buy from him in bulk. Depending on species and size, each fish sells for Tk 10 to Tk 500 and is shipped in oxygen-filled bags. He earns about Tk 40,000 a month.
Raihan says he wanted work that brought peace of mind as well as income, and ornamental fish give him both. When his first fish began breeding regularly his interest grew, and his family helped him expand the farm.
Abdus Salam, senior fisheries officer of Nilphamari Sadar upazila, says young entrepreneurs like Raihan are meeting a large share of demand in a sector that relied wholly on imports. There is demand for ornamental fish abroad too, and the fisheries department is supporting entrepreneurs in various ways.
Photo: Monika Korzeniec / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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