Two trawlers caught 200 maunds of hilsa in a single haul in the Bay of Bengal. The fish were later sold at auction for Tk 53.5 lakh at the BFDC fish landing centre in Pathorghata, Barguna.

On the morning of Wednesday (19 November) the fish from the two trawlers, FB Safawan-1 and FB Raisa, were sold at the Saif Fish wholesale house at the BFDC landing centre.

FB Safawan-1 and FB Raisa left Pathorghata for the deep sea on 14 November. On Monday (17 November) they cast their nets at least 70 km out to sea from Kuakata and caught about 18,000 hilsa in one haul. FB Raisa caught 110 maunds, which sold for Tk 28.5 lakh, while FB Safawan-1 caught 90 maunds, which sold for Tk 25 lakh.

FB Raisa's skipper Masud said: "We went to sea on 14 November. In three or four days we got only 400 fish. On the afternoon of 17 November we cast the net, waited a while, and when we hauled it in there was hilsa everywhere. We caught roughly 18,000 hilsa in that one haul." According to the Safawan-1, its net was cast on the afternoon of 17 November and caught 90 maunds of fish. The fish were sold by open auction today.

Mostafa Alam, a wholesaler at the Pathorghata BFDC market, said the fish were sold at his wholesale house. "A few days ago I sold about 170 maunds from another trawler. Fishermen are not catching fish at sea now, but this 200-maund catch will help them recover much of their losses."

Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of the Barguna District Trawler Owners' Association, said fishermen and trawler owners had been counting losses because catches at sea were not what they used to be. "Seeing the fishermen smile after two trawlers landed 200 maunds of hilsa has made us happy too."

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