Arverne is a residential area of Far Rockaway in New York. Next to it is a small river connected to the Atlantic Ocean. John F Kennedy International Airport can be seen not far from the riverbank.

Several dozen Bangladeshi families live in Arverne. One of them is Zakir Hossain Babul. When he has free time, he fishes in the small river as a hobby, sometimes with a rod, sometimes with a cast net and sometimes with a drag net; sometimes alone and sometimes with Bangladeshi neighbours.

"Sometimes a single cast of the net fills a whole bucket with fish. It's as if there is as much fish in the river as water!" said Zakir Hossain.

His wife, Shilpi Jahan, said: "We are Bengalis of fish and rice. We have heard stories that natural water bodies in Bangladesh once had plenty of fish. And now here we see plenty of fish."

Shilpi Jahan said that whenever someone from the Bangladeshi families goes fishing, they come back and give fish to their nearest neighbours as a gift, often insisting that they take it.

Asked why they insist, she said: "Actually, cleaning, cutting and storing so much fish is a lot of trouble. And most of the time there isn't much room in the fridge."

Zakir Hossain said: "Lots of fish come in from the sea here, pollution is low, and there are far fewer people fishing than in Bangladesh. Perhaps that is why so many fish are caught here."

Zakir, who is from Hajiganj upazila of Chandpur, said that apart from farmed fish, not many fish are found in natural water bodies in Bangladesh any more. "There aren't as many fish in our village area as there used to be!"

To increase fish production, Bangladesh could stop the indiscriminate use of pesticides on farmland and the use of current nets, increase the number of natural water bodies and take other steps, added Zakir Hossain, who lives in New York.

Source: Banglanews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.