Banned piranha fish are being sold openly in various markets of Rowmari upazila in Kurigram. Some dishonest traders are deceiving buyers by selling the fish under the name rupchanda (pomfret). This came to light on recent visits to markets across Rowmari.

Fish seller Abdul Halim said: "Chand Mia, a fish trader from Jamalpur, brings about 200kg of piranha every day to the Shiberdangi area of Jadurchar union in Rowmari and sells it. Retailers buy the fish and sell it to consumers in markets across the upazila." Saying he did not know that farming and selling piranha is banned, he added: "I am an uneducated man, I don't know these things. I sell it knowing it as fish. Now that you've told me it's banned, I will never sell it again."

Inquiries found that a trader named Chand Mia regularly brings piranha from a place called Kalibari in the Sherpur area of Jamalpur and sells it to traders in Rowmari's markets, who sell it to consumers as rupchanda. Another fish seller, Rafiqul, said a fish farmer named Mostafa has leased a pond from the Jadurchar union parishad and is farming piranha there, and that he has long farmed the fish in various ponds in the upazila. Several other fish sellers confirmed that piranha is being farmed in the pond leased from the union parishad.

Fish farmer Mostafa admitted farming piranha but said there are none in the pond now. "I farmed some piranha before, but since it is banned I have taken them out," he said.

Rowmari upazila fisheries officer Aminur Rahman acknowledged that piranha is being sold. "We have already started conducting drives in the markets," he said, adding that 20kg of piranha was seized from Rowmari market on 2 July. However, he denied that the fish is being farmed in the upazila.

Asked about farming and selling piranha, district fisheries officer Md Zillur Rahman said: "The government has banned the farming, transport and sale of piranha. Anyone who still farms or sells this fish is committing an offence and will face punishment. I will ask the upazila fisheries officer to take action."

"Rowmari is a flood-prone area in any case," he said. "If this fish is in ponds and once gets into our rivers, canals or water bodies, our aquatic ecosystem will face a serious threat."

The piranha is a predatory fish from the Amazon region of South America. With shark-like teeth, the highly aggressive fish damages the aquatic environment and can also attack people. Its attacks in groups can kill a person.

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.