A fishing trawler from Hatiya in Noakhali has landed about 60 maunds of hilsa from the Bay of Bengal. When it returned to Chairman Ghat on Thursday morning (24 September), the catch was sold in three rounds of auction at Saiful fish depot by midday for about Tk 20 lakh.

Skipper Abdur Rahim took 18 crew to sea and returned after six straight days with the large haul. After the cost and labour of six days at sea, he said, everyone was happy with the catch, and he hoped for more good fishing ahead.

Depot owner Saiful Islam said about 60 maunds of hilsa were sold in three rounds for around Tk 20 lakh, and so large a landing in the season had lifted traders' spirits. Md Akbar Hossain, a trader at the ghat, said that if hilsa stayed this plentiful at sea, supply would rise and business would pick up.

District fisheries officer Harun-or-Rashid said hilsa were readily available in the Bay of Bengal at this time, so fishermen were getting the catches they hoped for. To raise hilsa production and breeding, he urged fishers to follow government directives, protect jatka (juvenile hilsa) and stay off the water during fishing bans.

Reported by the Observer online desk.

Source: The Daily Observer