A trawler named FB Safawan-3 has caught about 170 maunds of hilsa while fishing in the Bay of Bengal, with an estimated market value of half a crore taka. Because there was not enough room on board, about 30 maunds were transferred to another trawler at sea. The hilsa-laden trawler reached the Patharghata BFDC fish landing centre on the morning of Friday (31 October), where the catch was sold at auction through local wholesalers for about Tk 40 lakh. The other trawler had not yet reached the ghat.

The trawler, owned by Saif Fishing Company of Patharghata upazila in Barguna, left Patharghata with 19 fishers on the morning of Wednesday (29 October). The same afternoon they cast their net in deep sea about 60 kilometres from Kuakata. Checking the pull on the net that night, they realised a huge quantity of hilsa had been caught. They hauled the net from 8pm until 1.30pm the next day. As the catch exceeded the trawler's capacity, about 30 maunds were transferred to another of the company's trawlers, Saif-2.

"We got fish like this after a long time. As soon as we hauled the net, the trawler was full of hilsa. Together the two trawlers landed 170 to 175 maunds," the trawler's skipper Rubel told Jago News.

Monirul Haque Masum, manager of Saif Fishing Company, told Jago News: "With very little fish being caught at sea, we have been making losses constantly. Alhamdulillah, today one of our trawlers had a good catch. By size, the hilsa were sold at Tk 27,000 and Tk 22,000 a maund, with a third rate given as '12 taka' a maund, for Tk 40 lakh in all. Because the fish were small, we did not get the price we hoped for."

Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of the Barguna District Trawler Owners' Association, said: "After the 22-day ban on fishing in rivers and the sea, fishers have found fish as soon as they went to sea. This is happy news."

Fisheries researcher Biplob Kumar Sarkar said hilsa are now returning to the sea after breeding. "In the breeding season hilsa release their eggs in fresh water and then return to the salt water of the sea. Hilsa also move together in shoals. These fishers probably cast their net inside such a shoal, which is why they caught so many fish at once," he told Jago News.

"If illegal trawling boats and banned nets at sea are stopped, good days will return for coastal fishers," he added.

The government collects 1.25 percent revenue on the total value of fish sold at the Patharghata landing centre.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.