To increase hilsa production in the country, the Department of Fisheries has been implementing the Hilsa Resource Development and Management project since July 2020. The project, funded by the Bangladesh government itself, is expected to end in June 2024.

Project director Md Zia Haider Chowdhury said the project will cost a total of Tk 246 crore 27 lakh 53 thousand. So far 20 per cent of the work has been completed, and all of it will be finished on time, he said.

Setting out the background, he said hilsa is the national fish and a renewable natural resource, of immense importance for economic development, jobs, export earnings and protein supply. Hilsa makes the largest contribution to the country's total fish production (about 11 per cent) and contributes 1 per cent of GDP. It is the main livelihood of coastal fishers.

Some 5 lakh people are directly engaged in catching hilsa, and 20 to 25 lakh are involved directly or indirectly. Among the 11 hilsa-catching countries in the world, Bangladesh now ranks first, and about 80 per cent of the world's hilsa is caught in its rivers.

Hilsa were once found in large numbers in almost all the country's rivers and in their branches and tributaries. In flood years hilsa were sometimes found in beels and haors connected to rivers. This important fish resource fell into crisis in the 1980s. Before then, hilsa made up 20 per cent of total fish production.

In 2002-03 hilsa's share fell to only 8 per cent of national production (given as 1.99 tonnes). The production trend shows 2.29 tonnes in 2000-01, falling to 2.20 tonnes in 2001-02 and 1.99 tonnes in 2002-03, as the figures are stated. Production fell for both natural and man-made reasons.

One of the main reasons is environmental change in inland waters: unplanned dams, culverts and bridges on rivers, and silt carried from upstream, are reducing water flow and navigability and polluting the aquatic environment. As a result, the hilsa's migration routes, breeding grounds, and feeding and nursery grounds are changing and being destroyed day by day, and hilsa production in inland waters is falling.

In addition, the growing population, lack of jobs, highly effective monofilament gill nets, improved fishing methods and mechanised boats have increased the hilsa catch at sea.

Among the causes of the destruction of the hilsa resource, a leading one is the indiscriminate catching of jatka (young hilsa) and brood hilsa with harmful nets and gear. In the dry season hilsa are now hardly found in the Padma, Dhaleshwari, Gorai, Chitra, Madhumati and other rivers once famous for them.

The most important factor is the indiscriminate use of illegal current nets, behundi nets, ber nets, char ghara nets, mosquito nets, pai nets and the like. Unless these harmful illegal nets and gear are eliminated, the desired hilsa production will be hampered.

So a main aim of the project is to raise production by conserving jatka and brood hilsa. To achieve this, mobile courts and drives in rivers, fish markets, landing ghats, haats and wholesale depots are essential.

The indiscriminate destruction of hilsa, jatka and other small fish and fry is not only wiping out the hilsa resource but also damaging and destroying the coastal ecosystem. A large share of hilsa fishers are becoming jobless and finding it hard to support their families, and with smaller catches, simply making a living has become difficult.

Because fishing communities live in remote, hard-to-reach places, their participation in government services and extension work is very limited. People in these areas also face natural disasters almost every year, at the cost of many lives and much property.

Joint efforts are badly needed to reduce natural risks, ensure safety of life and improve their socio-economic condition. This will make the hilsa resource sustainable and empower coastal fishing communities. To raise the volume and availability of hilsa and ensure a sustainable catch, the project is being implemented in 134 coastal upazilas of 29 hilsa-rich districts.

Fishers' place in society is far below the poverty line, and finding three meals a day is a struggle. When fishing is banned to protect jatka and brood hilsa, their hardship peaks. The project will play a very important role in reducing this poverty.

When implemented, the project will make 30,000 coastal fishing families self-reliant and help them find alternative incomes, reducing their poverty. Around 4 lakh beneficiaries, fishers and people of other occupations, will also become aware of the benefits of protecting hilsa and jatka. Poor fishers will thus benefit both directly and indirectly, and by raising hilsa production the project will help meet the demand for protein.

On the project's specific objectives, Md Zia Haider Chowdhury said they are: to raise hilsa production by enforcing the fish conservation law to protect brood hilsa and jatka and by managing sanctuaries; to create alternative jobs, through skills training, for 30,000 fishing families that catch jatka and brood hilsa; and to raise public awareness of conserving brood hilsa and jatka by distributing 10,000 legal nets to fishers and through wide publicity.

Setting out its targets, he said poverty will be reduced by supplying legal nets to 10,000 fishing families and by giving 30,000 hilsa and jatka fishing families materials for alternative livelihoods according to their needs, along with training to develop their skills.

With the project covering 134 upazilas in 29 districts, hilsa will increase in the Padma and other rivers. Fishers, fish workers, sellers, wholesalers and transporters, everyone involved in catching and marketing hilsa, will benefit.

On the project's results, he said enforcing the conservation law and creating alternative jobs for hilsa fishers will increase hilsa production and its availability in the Padma and other rivers.

Alternative jobs will be created for families that catch jatka, and awareness will grow among jatka and hilsa fishers. Skilled staff with technical knowledge of community-based management of hilsa sanctuaries will be developed, which will play an important role in meeting the growing demand for fish and in improving the lives of jatka and hilsa fishers.

The work planned to protect brood hilsa and jatka includes:

• 1,072 public awareness meetings and 60 workshops;
• 16,616 drives or mobile courts to conserve jatka and brood hilsa;
• 1,278 joint special drives to conserve brood hilsa;
• running six hilsa sanctuaries, adjoining 154 unions in 23 upazilas of six districts, over the project period;
• creating alternative jobs for 30,000 jatka fishing families, and training 18,000 fishers for this purpose;
• raising awareness of the importance of conserving jatka among 4 lakh fishers and people of other occupations in the project area during the project period.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.