Even at the height of the season, silver hilsa are nowhere to be seen in the Bishkhali river in coastal Jhalakathi district. With no alternative work, several hundred fishing families in the upazila are living in dire conditions.
According to the Department of Fisheries and fishing families, most people in 12 villages along the Bishkhali once made a living from fishing, and the river was a sanctuary for hilsa. Now 2,000 fishing families in the upazila depend on it. They have taken loans from banks and NGOs, and advances at high interest from moneylenders, to buy boats and nets. But after casting nets day and night, they are returning disappointed without hilsa.
Hilsa are also scarce at the district's Amua Bandar, Kathalia Sadar, Kachua, Center's Hat and Aurabunia markets. When one or two fishermen occasionally net one or two fish, the price at market is sky-high, beyond ordinary people's means.
With no other source of income, these fishing families have become jobless and often go hungry or half-fed.
Voices from the river
Faruk Hossain, a fisherman from Boro Kathalia village in the upazila, said: "The river doesn't give hilsa like before. But I can't give up my father's and grandfather's trade either."
His younger brother Sentu said that with no fish in the river for several years, it had become hard to run the household. "So I was forced to change my profession. Now I run a tea stall in front of Kathalia police station."
Md Rakibul Islam, upazila branch manager of the NGO BURO Bangladesh, said: "With a small job, it's already a struggle to support the family. On top of that, how can we buy expensive hilsa? Hilsa from the local river is selling at Tk 1,500-2,000 a kg in the market now."
Nuru Sardar, a fish trader at Amua bazar, said the Bishkhali's water is fresh, which makes its hilsa tasty and pricier. "Now you can hardly find hilsa at all."
Upazila fisheries officer Nahida Akter said there are fewer fish in the river because of climate change, and more hilsa may be caught after the new-moon tide.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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