After a long time, fishermen have gone out to sea despite rough weather, and they were not disappointed. One trawler returned to the ghat with 65 maunds of hilsa, which sold for Tk 38 lakh.

The fish were taken to an arot (wholesale depot) called Messrs Khan Fish at Alipur fish landing centre in Patuakhali and auctioned at noon on Sunday, 13 July, where they sold for Tk 38 lakh.

The hilsa had been caught on Saturday, 12 July, in the deep sea about 150 km south-east of Kuakata.

According to inquiries, the fishing trawler FB Sadia-2 left Alipur ghat on Thursday, 10 July, with 23 fishermen. Over the past two days it cast its nets in different parts of the sea and landed the catch.

Sources at the arot said the fish were brought to Alipur landing centre and sorted into three size grades. Hilsa weighing 900 grams to 1 kg sold at Tk 95,000 a maund (Tk 2,375 a kg), fish of 600 to 800 grams at Tk 70,000 (Tk 1,750 a kg) and fish of 400 to 500 grams at Tk 56,000 (Tk 1,400 a kg). Other fish sold for Tk 1.17 lakh. In all, fish worth Tk 39,60,140 were sold.

The trawler's skipper, Shahabuddin, said: "We went to sea from Alipur ghat with 23 fishermen on 9 July. We got the fish by casting our nets in the deep sea near Kuakata while fishing. After the 58-day ban we were hit by bad weather again and again. This is the first time we have got a good amount of fish, Alhamdulillah."

Md Sagar Islam, manager of Khan Fish, said: "Very few fish have been caught at sea for a long time, and fishermen were at their wits' end because of the bad weather. By selling this catch they will be able to recover some of their earlier losses."

Apu Saha, senior upazila fisheries officer of Kalapara, said fishermen had been burdened with losses because of the long ban and bad weather. For some days now they have been getting good catches, which can be called a benefit of the ban, he said. If the weather stays favourable, he hopes they will get plenty of fish in the coming days.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.