Hilsa output has grown but sustainable management is the challenge, BFRI scientist says

Hilsa production in Bangladesh grew significantly in recent years, but sustaining that growth was now the big challenge, according to Dr Md Amirul Islam, chief scientific officer at the Chandpur river centre of the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI). In an interview with Jagonews24 on 7 April 2026, the first day of Jatka Conservation Week, he said the country had to focus on sustainable management, protecting mother hilsa, ending the catch of jatka (juvenile hilsa), keeping rivers navigable and controlling pollution.

The hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) is Bangladesh's national fish and was registered as a geographical indication (GI) product on 6 August 2017. BFRI, founded in 1984, has its headquarters in Mymensingh; its riverine station is in Chandpur district, where the Padma and the Meghna meet.

Dr Amirul Islam said production began to improve after the government took effective hilsa management measures from 2003-04. Before that, indiscriminate catching of mother hilsa and jatka had pushed output down to about 2 lakh (200,000) tonnes.

He said production was about 5.32 lakh tonnes in 2018-19, then 5.50 lakh, 5.65 lakh and 5.66 lakh tonnes in the following years, reaching about 5.70 lakh tonnes. Asked about a gap between what people see and the research data, he said figures are published on the basis of government research and government data are what count. He declined to comment on the decline of large hilsa in the Padma and Meghna at Chandpur.

The day before, at a press conference at the Secretariat on 6 April for Jatka Conservation Week, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said hilsa production fell to 5 lakh tonnes in 2024-25, which the daily Desh Rupantor reported as the lowest in eight years. The minister said river siltation, climate change, river pollution and mounting pressure on fish stocks had made keeping production steady a great challenge. The same report said output had last been below 5 lakh tonnes in 2016-17, at 4.96 lakh tonnes.

Dr Amirul Islam said the hilsa is a migratory fish that comes in from the sea to spawn in rivers, so its breeding grounds and habitat must be protected. According to Wikipedia, the fish travels some 50 to 100 km upriver to spawn. On artificial breeding, he said nobody anywhere in the world had yet produced hilsa fry artificially, so the fishery depends on natural breeding.

Jagonews24 reported that the country has six hilsa sanctuaries, in five of which all fishing is banned in March and April so that jatka can grow safely. The ministry's 6 April briefing also listed these measures:

• Catching, transporting and selling jatka banned from 1 November to 30 June.
• A 22-day ban on hilsa fishing in the breeding season, timed on scientific advice.
• A 58-day ban on all fishing in the Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas from 15 April to 11 June.
• VGF food aid and alternative work for fishers during the bans.

Dr Amirul Islam named the priorities for raising production: protecting mother hilsa, stopping the jatka catch, ending the use of illegal nets, controlling pollution in rivers and the sea, and providing fishers with alternative work. At his press conference the minister likewise called the indiscriminate catch of jatka with current nets, behundi nets and other illegal gear one of the main obstacles to higher production.

The scientist described shrinking river depth as a major challenge: heavy silt deposits block the hilsa's migration routes, so planned dredging is urgent. He also said industrial waste, plastics and chemicals were degrading river and sea water, a serious threat to the fish.

Conservation, he said, is a social responsibility as well as the government's job, and everyone must obey the bans. The ministry said that year's Jatka Conservation Week would run from 7 to 13 April in 20 hilsa-rich districts, with an opening event in Chandpur Sadar and a theme urging an end to the jatka catch so that the sea and rivers fill with hilsa.

Photo: Nahid Sultan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Desh Rupantor, Wikipedia (Ilish; Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute)