Since the end of the 22-day ban to protect hilsa breeding, plenty of pangas are being caught in the Meghna, Tetulia and nearby rivers. Normally fishers expect mostly hilsa in their nets after the ban, but on Tuesday and Wednesday large numbers of pangas reached the Barishal market alongside hilsa.

Fishers and traders are somewhat astonished by the sudden abundance. Pangas used to be plentiful in the rivers of the south, but in recent years the fish has declined sharply because of weak management, shrinking waterbodies, destruction of breeding grounds and overfishing.

Researchers of WorldFish's EcoFish-II project carried out a study on pangas in 2017. It said the killing of huge numbers of pangas fry with destructive traps such as the "chai" seriously affected the fish's reproduction.

That year EcoFish researchers surveyed pangas in the Tetulia river, which flows through Bhola and Patuakhali. The work was led by Mir Mohammad Ali, an EcoFish researcher and assistant professor in the Faculty of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Science at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. They found 12 sites that are breeding grounds for pangas or catfish-type fish: Hadir Char, Chargunee, Majher Char, Patar Char, Char Borhan, Char Kalmi, Char Kajal, Bontali, Char Montaz, Char Biswas, Chhoto Baishdia and Chalitabunia. In these areas an organised group of 20 fishers catches huge numbers of small pangas with chai traps.

The traps, made of thin bamboo twigs, catch vast numbers of pangas fry at a size of about 40 to the kilo. Each fisher's traps kill at least 120 kg of such fry a day, so these 20 fishers destroy at least two crore pangas fry in six months of the year. They sell the fry in the market as river tengra, a fish that does not grow beyond 5 to 10 centimetres.

EcoFish experts say that if these breeding grounds can be protected, this nearly endangered group can be brought back to the rivers in large numbers. The government has banned catching pangas under 30 cm from November to 30 July, but because the law is not properly enforced and fishers are not aware of it, the killing of fry continues.

Several wholesalers on Port Road in Barishal city said river pangas have been arriving on hilsa trawlers since Tuesday, and for two days buyers have been buying more pangas than hilsa. Citing fishers, they said plenty of pangas are now being caught in the Meghna, Arial Khan, Kalabadar, Lata and Tetulia rivers.

Zahir Sikdar, owner of a fish wholesale business on Port Road, said fishers are netting plenty of pangas in the Meghna and its branches, and since the ban more pangas than hilsa has reached the wholesalers.

Source: Prothom Alo. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.