The wetlands of Chalan Beel in Sirajganj once teemed with native fish of many kinds, and when the monsoon ended, making shutki, dried fish, became a busy trade. That picture has largely changed. With fish scarce, dried-fish output has fallen, many drying platforms have shut and the people who worked them have lost their jobs.
According to the Sirajganj fisheries department, the 73 dried-fish yards in Ullapara and Tarash upazilas produced 275.8 tonnes in the 2024-25 financial year. In 2025-26 the same number of yards produced 135 tonnes, a fall of 140.8 tonnes in a year.
At the Mohishluti dried-fish settlement in Tarash, most platforms stand idle. Some drying mats are empty; on others a few puti are drying. At the time of year when the yards should be busiest, workers are sitting idle. Platform owner Ali Aslam said fish in the beel have fallen alarmingly this year, more than in several years; fish can be found at the wholesale markets, but at prices too high to make dried fish pay.
Kalam Sarkar, a dried-fish trader in Mannannagar, said production has stopped at many yards for lack of fish, leaving hundreds of labourers in hardship. Aleya and Fatema, women workers at Mohishluti, clean and dry fish from dawn to dusk; for about 12 hours' work they earn just Tk 250. With less work this year, many women workers have been left without jobs, they said.
Dried fish made from Chalan Beel's snakehead, boal, kholse, taki, tengra, chanda and other species goes to Saidpur, Nilphamari, Dhaka and other parts of the country.
Abdullah Al Mahmud, an associate professor of zoology at Sirajganj Government College, said filling in of water bodies, unplanned pond digging, roads, embankments and industry are shrinking fish habitat in Chalan Beel, while catching brood fish in badai nets is hampering breeding. District fisheries officer Mahbubur Rahman said the shortage has several causes, including the absence of floodwater, and dried-fish traders are struggling as a result.
This report is based on a dispatch by Abdullah Al Maruf, Ajker Patrika's Sirajganj correspondent.
Photo: Kmonsoor / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Ajker Patrika
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