Fishermen have gone back to catching hilsa after the 22-day ban, bringing life back to Chandpur's Padma and Meghna rivers and the Boro Station fish landing. But they did not get the hilsa they hoped for on the first day. Large pangas in their nets, however, have put smiles back on their faces.

Fishermen went out on the river from the early hours of 26 October, after the end of the government ban that ran from 4 to 25 October to protect mother hilsa.

At the Chandpur Boro Station landing, the wholesale stalls were filled with large pangas caught by fishermen. It could be said that pangas, not hilsa, now rule the landing.

River pangas caught in the Padma and Meghna are selling at Tk 700 to Tk 750 a kg. With hilsa prices largely out of reach, many buyers are now turning to pangas.

Fisherman Shukkur Ali said: "We could not go on the river for a long time. I cast my net at dawn and did not get much hilsa, but some big pangas came up, which will make up for some of the loss." He added that even if there is no hilsa in the river, there are big pangas now, most fishermen are catching pangas, and by catching pangas they will be able to get back on their feet.

Sohel, a buyer at the landing, said hilsa prices are very high now, so he is buying pangas instead. The hilsa look like old stored fish, he said, while the pangas are completely fresh.

Fish trader Kamal Hossain said that although there was little hilsa on the first day after the ban, supply may increase in the next few days. Getting large pangas is normal in this season, he said, and if pangas are caught every day the price will stay affordable.

Assistant fisheries officer Md Mizanur Rahman said pangas were able to move freely during the drive to protect mother hilsa, which is why large pangas are now being caught in the river. Another factor, he said, is that the pangas were small during the jatka season, when drives protected the young fish. Small fish must be given the chance to grow, and it is the fishermen who will benefit, he said.

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