Ten hilsa have been found after a net was cast in a mosque pond in Hatiya, an island upazila of Noakhali. The fish weighed 300 grams on average.

They were caught on the morning of Saturday (29 June) in the pond of the Shariatpur Samaj mosque in Ward 4 of Harani union in the upazila.

Harani union chairman Md Akhtar Hossain said: "Hearing that hilsa had been found in the pond, I phoned to find out. I told them to release the fish back into the pond. Young hilsa may have come into the pond with the tidal water. Because the pond has salt water, the fish have adapted."

Local resident Md Arif said 10 hilsa were caught when a net was cast in the pond in the morning. "At first we couldn't believe it. Then, as everyone decided, the fish were released. They will be caught when they grow bigger."

Mosque president Abul Kashem said tidal water entered the pond in 2023. "We think young hilsa got in then and have slowly grown. Because tidal water comes in around here, hilsa are found in almost every pond."

Hatiya upazila fisheries officer Md Fahad Hasan said it is not that hilsa grow in ponds. "The hilsa came into the pond because tidal water got in. When the pond was flooded, hilsa entered. There is nothing else special here."

Professor Dr Md Anisuzzaman, chairman of the oceanography department at Noakhali Science and Technology University, said hilsa can enter a pond with salt water when tidal water flows in. "Research shows that hilsa grow little in fresh water but survive for a while. It is not commercially profitable, however, and in fresh water the taste and smell of hilsa are not right."

Dr Anisur Rahman, former chief hilsa researcher at the Fisheries Research Institute in Chandpur, said: "I have been to several ponds in Hatiya where hilsa are found. We are researching how hilsa can be farmed commercially in ponds. Mainly, because of changes in biodiversity, hilsa want to change their habitat, so they are adapting to ponds."

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