A fishing trawler from Patharghata in Barguna has caught about 95 maunds — roughly 3.5 tonnes — of hilsa in a single net in the deep Bay of Bengal. The shoal filled the net within two hours of its being cast, and the fish were later sold for about Tk 3 million.

The FB Nazma, owned by Enamul Hossain, brought the catch into the BFDC fish landing centre at Patharghata on Sunday morning, 20 September. The boat had left Patharghata for the deep sea on 17 September and cast its net at about 6 pm on Saturday. When the crew hauled it in two hours later, the report says, it was silver with hilsa and the fishermen struggled to free the fish from the mesh.

Boat master Bappi Mia said repeated lows and depressions had kept the weather bad for months, so the crew had barely fished even at the height of the hilsa season. With the fish sold on Sunday morning, the crew was preparing to head back out the same night.

Owner Enamul Hossain said the 95 maunds sold at Tk 18,000 to Tk 41,000 a maund, bringing in about Tk 3 million. The fish were on the small side, which held the price down; a slightly larger grade could have fetched Tk 6 million to Tk 7 million. Over the past five days his boat has landed Tk 5.5 million worth of fish in two trips.

Sagir Alam, president of the Patharghata BFDC wholesalers' association, said this was the first 95-maund haul by one trawler this hilsa season. Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of the Barguna district fishing-trawler owners' association, said owners and crews had been running at a loss for want of fish and hoped a catch of this size would go a long way to recovering it.

News of the haul has sent the other trawlers and crews at the BFDC landing centre preparing for the deep sea. The report is by Krishi Shomoy's Barguna correspondent.

Source: Krishi Shomoy