FisheriesAfter more than doubling over two decades, Bangladesh's hilsa production fell in fiscal 2023-24 and 2024-25; researchers blame weak enforcement, river pollution, shifting chars and unplanned sand mining.
GalleryProthom Alo's photographers' round for 1 November runs from Rangamati's flowers and a bee on lemon blossom to Barishal's hilsa landing, Manikganj's paddy and Sreepur's whistling ducks.
FisheriesMuch of the hilsa landed at Charfasson's Samraj landing after the ban had rotted; one fisher said his crew went to sea before 8 October and fished for all 22 days.
FisheriesTrawlers returning from the Bay of Bengal after the 22-day hilsa ban have brought Chattogram's Fishery Ghat back to life, but many fishers and owners fear the first catches will not cover costs.
FisheriesAbout 1,000 maunds of hilsa reached Chandpur's fish landing on the first day after the ban; one-kilogram fish sold for Tk 2,100 to 2,300 a kg.
FisheriesWithin hours of the 22-day hilsa ban ending, trawlers full of fish reached the Alipur-Mohipur fishing port in Patuakhali, and locals allege fishing went on during the ban.
FisheriesFrom 1 November to 30 June 2027, catching, selling, transporting or storing hilsa under 10 inches is an offence; Patuakhali's 79,000 registered fishers will receive 40 kg of rice a month for four months.
FisheriesWriting in Down To Earth, Sarvesh JP of BOBP-IGO and Deepanjana Saha of ATREE say warming seas and saltier estuaries are keeping hilsa offshore, and that uncoordinated fishing bans let catches shift rather than fall.
FisheriesWith the 22-day ban to protect spawning hilsa lifted, fishers are back on the Meghna and Tentulia in Bhola, hoping to clear their debts. Some say influential people's men caught brood hilsa during the ban.
CookingIn an AgroSpectrum column, Dr Tarun Shridhar sets aside production statistics to follow fish through India's regional kitchens, from Bengal's mustard hilsa and Assam's sour tenga to Kerala's banana-leaf karimeen and Punjab's gram-flour fry.
FisheriesDespite the 22-day ban to protect spawning hilsa, rice eateries in at least seven markets along the Meghna in Matlab Uttar, Chandpur, are openly selling fried hilsa with roe.
FisheriesSeventeen days into the 22-day ban on fishing to protect breeding hilsa, about 16,575 fishers in six unions of Lalmohan, Bhola, have not received their 25 kg of VGF rice; union chairmen blame poor coordination in preparing the lists.
FisheriesSeasonal fishers are catching hilsa during the ban along about 25 km of the Padma and Jamuna at Shibalaya, Manikganj, and selling it on the riverbanks at dawn and at night; drives have seized 4.7 million metres of current net.
