A fish market gathers twice a day at Gatirghat in Ramna, Chilmari upazila of Kurigram: at 6am and again at about 2:30pm. About 150 boats land there across the two sessions with fish from the Brahmaputra and Teesta. Local fishers say it has run for nearly 200 years, though upazila officer Mahmudul Hasan says its exact age is not established.
The temporary market is known for small fish: puti, tangra, mola, sarputi, gulsha, chapila, kachki, bele and shrimp, along with larger chitol and boal and sometimes bagarh. Fish goes on ice to other parts of the country as well as to local markets.
Many livelihoods depend on the landing. Fulel Chandra Das, 80, has traded fish for about 60 years and earns Tk 600-700 a day. Kshitish Das, 65, of Patrakhata can no longer go out on the river, so he buys at the ghat and sells in the local market for Tk 400-500 a day.
Behind the bustle is a livelihood problem. Fishers say the river no longer yields what it did, while costlier diesel has cut their income. Putul Chandra Das, 42, says a day of fishing takes 8-10 litres of diesel, with five or six people working each boat.
Santosh Chandra Das, 67, gave up fishing after a boat accident seven years ago but still comes to the ghat morning and afternoon. He knows no other work and relies on the help of the people there.
Reported by Md Jahanur Rahman.
Source: Prothom Alo
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