Awareness needed to protect hilsa
Monday, 15 September 2008
Lubana Yasmin Palia
"The days of delicious Hilsa are over for us," bemoans Abdul Karim, an NGO worker, who lives at a village in the vicinity of the Padma River, known for Hilsa, a popular tropical fish of clupeidae family.
"It's my favourite fish. I cannot pass a week without having Hilsa, but these days I cannot afford it as it is very expensive for people like me,"says Karim who fetches a salary of Tk 12,000 a month.
It's not only Karim, most Bangladeshis love fish, particularly Hilsa, but many of them cannot afford it for its soaring prices.
A staggering 75 per cent of the world's Hilsa is produced in Bangladesh. So, employment of thousands of people is involved with it. Unfortunately, Hilsa production today faces obstacles in Bangladesh due to over catching of the fish, particularly Jatka (baby Hilsa). Besides, water pollution, construction of barrages/dams on different rivers and loss of navigability of rivers are also taking their toll on the Hilsa output.
If this situation continues, there will come a day when Hilsa will disappear from the menu of Bangladeshis. Fish experts say involvement of fishermen, fish traders, different NGOs and public representatives and mass awareness are necessary to take an all-out initiative to protect this fish.
According to officials, 95 per cent of Hilsa fish used to be caught from the Padma, Meghna and other rivers of the country. And only five per cent used to be caught from the Bay of Bengal. But, now about 64 per cent Hilsa is procured from the Sea and coastal areas, while the remaining 36 per cent from rivers.
The trend of catching more and more Hilsa from the Sea and coastal areas indicates that the fish is moving away from the rivers to the Sea. If Hilsa goes out of the economic zone or the boundary of the Sea, then Bangladesh's Hilsa will turn into the asset of neighbouring countries.
"Already, Hilsa production in India and Myanmar has marked an increase. So, it's very essential to maintain an acceptable level of Hilsa production in domestic water. It's also equally important to maintain a congenial environment for Hilsa breeding," says an official.
Siraj Uddin, Chandpur district fishery officer, says, "In Bangladesh, the overall Hilsa production, in fact, hasn't gone down compared to the past at the moment."
He says the Hilsa output gets affected due to over-catching during the breeding period. If its catching is banned during September-October period for reproduction, the output of Hilsa will get a boost. Besides, if 20-30 per cent of Jatka can be saved, an additional 0.10 million to 0.15 million tons of Hilsa production is possible.
According to information from different sources, mass awareness is on the rise about preventing Jatka catching. Due to partial prevention of Jatka catching, an additional 56,000 metric tons of Hilsa worth about Tk 8.40 billion (840 crore) were produced in 2004.
As per the Fish Preservation Act, it is a punishable crime to catch, kill, carry, sell and stock Jatka from November I to May 3 1. The first-time offender can be imprisoned for one to six months along with a maximum fine of Tk 1,000. For committing the crime for the second time or more than that, one can be imprisoned for two months to one year along with a fine of maximum Tk 2,000.
Ruhul Amin, a fish wholesaler of Chandpur, says Hilsa trading in Chandpur is not going well. Their income now has marked a drastic fall -- almost half. Hilsa is a deep water fish. Fishermen place nets in the rivers as they have lost their navigability, affecting the abodes of Hilsa. So, the breeding points of Hilsa are also moving away from Chandpur to seaside.
Jalal Ahmed, a fisherman, says, "I can't save money what I earn catching Hilsa in the peak season to cope with the situation during the lean period. I've to maintain a big family. I catch Jatka just for my living. If I get a job during the lean period I don't have to catch Jatka."
Hilsa is always considered as the most important fish. The contribution of Hilsa to the country's total fish production is about 12-13 per cent. The average annual production of Hilsha stands at about 0.2 million (2 lakh) metric tons worth about Tk 20.0 billion (2,000 crore). The contribution of Hilsa to the GDP is about one per cent. Besides, Bangladesh earns foreign currencies worth Tk 5.0-6.0 billion (50-60 crore) every year by exporting Hilsa to India and other countries.
Hilsa has also been contributing significantly to the country's employment. About 450,000 people from 145 Upazilas of 40 districts depend on catching Hilsa for their livelihoods. Of them, 32 per cent are full-timers and 68 per cent part-timers. Besides, about (20-25 lakh) people are directly or indirectly dependent on it as they are involved in works like transportation, processing, export, manufacturing of boats-nets etc.
Hilsa is very rich in food value, too. There are high-level of protein, fat and minerals in this fish. Hilsa contains high-level calcium, phosphorus and iron. The Hilsa fat has vitamin A and D in abundance.
Experts say Hilsa needs to be protected with acceptable level of catching, preventing Jatka killing, dredging rivers, preventing water pollution and most importantly mass awareness, as this fish is not only enriching the country's economy, but also meeting the demand for protein
By courtesy: NewsNetwork
"The days of delicious Hilsa are over for us," bemoans Abdul Karim, an NGO worker, who lives at a village in the vicinity of the Padma River, known for Hilsa, a popular tropical fish of clupeidae family.
"It's my favourite fish. I cannot pass a week without having Hilsa, but these days I cannot afford it as it is very expensive for people like me,"says Karim who fetches a salary of Tk 12,000 a month.
It's not only Karim, most Bangladeshis love fish, particularly Hilsa, but many of them cannot afford it for its soaring prices.
A staggering 75 per cent of the world's Hilsa is produced in Bangladesh. So, employment of thousands of people is involved with it. Unfortunately, Hilsa production today faces obstacles in Bangladesh due to over catching of the fish, particularly Jatka (baby Hilsa). Besides, water pollution, construction of barrages/dams on different rivers and loss of navigability of rivers are also taking their toll on the Hilsa output.
If this situation continues, there will come a day when Hilsa will disappear from the menu of Bangladeshis. Fish experts say involvement of fishermen, fish traders, different NGOs and public representatives and mass awareness are necessary to take an all-out initiative to protect this fish.
According to officials, 95 per cent of Hilsa fish used to be caught from the Padma, Meghna and other rivers of the country. And only five per cent used to be caught from the Bay of Bengal. But, now about 64 per cent Hilsa is procured from the Sea and coastal areas, while the remaining 36 per cent from rivers.
The trend of catching more and more Hilsa from the Sea and coastal areas indicates that the fish is moving away from the rivers to the Sea. If Hilsa goes out of the economic zone or the boundary of the Sea, then Bangladesh's Hilsa will turn into the asset of neighbouring countries.
"Already, Hilsa production in India and Myanmar has marked an increase. So, it's very essential to maintain an acceptable level of Hilsa production in domestic water. It's also equally important to maintain a congenial environment for Hilsa breeding," says an official.
Siraj Uddin, Chandpur district fishery officer, says, "In Bangladesh, the overall Hilsa production, in fact, hasn't gone down compared to the past at the moment."
He says the Hilsa output gets affected due to over-catching during the breeding period. If its catching is banned during September-October period for reproduction, the output of Hilsa will get a boost. Besides, if 20-30 per cent of Jatka can be saved, an additional 0.10 million to 0.15 million tons of Hilsa production is possible.
According to information from different sources, mass awareness is on the rise about preventing Jatka catching. Due to partial prevention of Jatka catching, an additional 56,000 metric tons of Hilsa worth about Tk 8.40 billion (840 crore) were produced in 2004.
As per the Fish Preservation Act, it is a punishable crime to catch, kill, carry, sell and stock Jatka from November I to May 3 1. The first-time offender can be imprisoned for one to six months along with a maximum fine of Tk 1,000. For committing the crime for the second time or more than that, one can be imprisoned for two months to one year along with a fine of maximum Tk 2,000.
Ruhul Amin, a fish wholesaler of Chandpur, says Hilsa trading in Chandpur is not going well. Their income now has marked a drastic fall -- almost half. Hilsa is a deep water fish. Fishermen place nets in the rivers as they have lost their navigability, affecting the abodes of Hilsa. So, the breeding points of Hilsa are also moving away from Chandpur to seaside.
Jalal Ahmed, a fisherman, says, "I can't save money what I earn catching Hilsa in the peak season to cope with the situation during the lean period. I've to maintain a big family. I catch Jatka just for my living. If I get a job during the lean period I don't have to catch Jatka."
Hilsa is always considered as the most important fish. The contribution of Hilsa to the country's total fish production is about 12-13 per cent. The average annual production of Hilsha stands at about 0.2 million (2 lakh) metric tons worth about Tk 20.0 billion (2,000 crore). The contribution of Hilsa to the GDP is about one per cent. Besides, Bangladesh earns foreign currencies worth Tk 5.0-6.0 billion (50-60 crore) every year by exporting Hilsa to India and other countries.
Hilsa has also been contributing significantly to the country's employment. About 450,000 people from 145 Upazilas of 40 districts depend on catching Hilsa for their livelihoods. Of them, 32 per cent are full-timers and 68 per cent part-timers. Besides, about (20-25 lakh) people are directly or indirectly dependent on it as they are involved in works like transportation, processing, export, manufacturing of boats-nets etc.
Hilsa is very rich in food value, too. There are high-level of protein, fat and minerals in this fish. Hilsa contains high-level calcium, phosphorus and iron. The Hilsa fat has vitamin A and D in abundance.
Experts say Hilsa needs to be protected with acceptable level of catching, preventing Jatka killing, dredging rivers, preventing water pollution and most importantly mass awareness, as this fish is not only enriching the country's economy, but also meeting the demand for protein
By courtesy: NewsNetwork