The season was long over, yet the fishermen were hoping that Hilsa will find their way into Padma. But, it was not the case, this time around. Instead, shoals of Hilsa were caught in the Bay of Bengal for the past two weeks that ended up in markets across the country.
Fishermen are all smiles as they are catching the much desired Hilsa. The wholesalers are equally happy.
Given the low price this time around, so are the consumers except for one complain— that is this taste of hilsa is not as much as usual.
Usually the saltwater fish come to the rivers to spawn and then goes back to the sea.
Monsoon tide brings them back to the river and that’s when hilsas are caught but it turned out to be an exception this year.
Explaining the reason for the hilsa’s being less tasty, experts said, river hilsa is more savory because during their way back to river, amount of salt in their system decreases making them tastier, while the sea hilsa contains more salt reducing its taste.
Fishermen are saying, negative impacts of climate change, sandbars and river-taming caused a lack of stream in rivers. So, the hilsas weren’t seen in the rivers this time around.
But the tasty treat of Hilsha is abundant in markets across the county, however, all of it caught from the sea.
Fish traders in the southern region reported low yield in the rivers in the region.
“However, fishermen in the coastal regions are getting big catch of Hilsha, which has flooded the markets,” said Pirojpur-based Golam Faruk told Bangla Tribune.
Patuakhali-based trader Sekandar Ali echoed, before adding: “The price has come down due to the huge catch of hilshas.”
Bhola Sadar upazila fisheries officer pointed out similar reasons. He told Bangla Tribune that due to climate change and sandberg formation fishing is no longer the same as before.
However, study found that there are plenty of fish in the sea. Fishermen are expected to catch more hilsa soon, he added.
According to Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, 60 percent of the world's total hilsa is produced in Bangladesh while 12 percent of the fish caught in Bangladesh rivers is Hilsa that contributes one percent of the our GDP.