As soon as feed hits the water, fish of many colours rise and dive: red, blue, orange, black, brown and yellow. Goldfish, comet, koi carp, oranda gold, silky koi, molly, guppy, angel and other colourful fish are a treat for the eyes and adorn home aquariums. They are being raised by young entrepreneur Md Sagar Hossain of Sarkartari village in Ramjiban union, Sundarganj, Gaibandha. He hopes ornamental fish farming will brighten his life, and he is earning Tk 60,000-70,000 a month from it. He studied in the Gender and Development department at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur.

Sagar Hossain said that in 2019, when his campus suddenly closed because of Covid, he was spending idle time at home. He came across a YouTube video on ornamental fish farming and began to wonder whether it could be done at home. He started with some "auto breed" fish and just Tk 3,000 in capital. Soon after, a big problem arose: where would he sell the fish, and would people in the local market buy them? An acquaintance heard him out and showed interest in buying.

Sagar realised there was demand in the local market too, and at one point he could not supply enough. He decided to expand, but his family did not agree, because a bigger business brings the chance of bigger profits but also the risk of heavy losses. Sagar was determined. He borrowed Tk 20,000 from an older sister he knew and set out to expand. He brought in some koi carp and comet fish and, with no training, produced fry by watching YouTube. By then his family had begun to help. He started farming fish in a 45-decimal pond and sold the fish produced there within five months, making a big profit.

Sagar Hossain told Jagonews: "I am now farming 20-25 species of ornamental fish and earning Tk 40,000-50,000 a month. Ornamental aquarium fish are very popular in our country. Hobbyists keep them in aquariums to beautify their homes. The use of aquariums has grown in shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and even shops, and it keeps increasing day by day. So the country's money stays in the country. If ornamental fish farming gets government patronage, I want to meet domestic demand and export abroad."

At first his family and neighbours laughed at his ornamental fish farming, but many are now pleased to see his success, and they say they have not seen such fish farming anywhere else. His friend Md Obadur Rahman said: "Ornamental fish have made my friend's life colourful too. His success is showing many people the way. Rather than chasing a job, I will also take advice from my friend and start farming ornamental fish."

Sagar now produces 150,000 ornamental fish of 15-20 varieties in three ponds and 18 tanks. He also sells them through Sagar Agro Farm and several online platforms, with demand coming from Gaibandha as well as Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogura and Rajshahi, and as far as the capital, Dhaka.

Gaibandha District Fisheries Officer Abdur Rashed said: "We are keeping track of this ornamental fish entrepreneur's project and giving him all kinds of support and training. And because it is more profitable, many people are becoming interested in ornamental fish farming."

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