Tk 4.0b earned from fish eggs procured from Halda river
Monday, 3 September 2007
Our Correspondent
CHITTAGONG, Sept 2: The country earns about Tk 4.0 billion annually from the particles of Ruhi fish and allied species procured from the Halda river, sources said.
An equal amount of money is also earned from the fish of other species, including delicious galda shrimps.
But it is regrettable that due to lack of proper government initiatives, this vast abode of natural fishes is on the edge of extinction, the sources added.
It was learnt from local people that Ruhi and similar species like Katla, Mrigel and Kalibaush like to lay eggs in the Halda.
Hundreds of egg collectors belonging to Raozan and Hathazari upazilas living on both banks of the river procure eggs during the egg-laying season in the months of April, May and June and turn the eggs into fry releasing those into the wells excavated on the river banks. Later, these are sold in the local markets at high prices, the sources said.
When contacted, a teacher of the Department of Zoology of the Chittagong University told this correspondent that the eggs collected in the Halda played a significant role in the national economy.
Of the total production of fish resources in the country, the Halda river contributes about 6.0 per cent and its contribution to the GDP is an encouraging one.
In these circumstances, proper government steps have been sought so that the breeding process of fish can go on in an uninterrupted way in the Halda river.
CHITTAGONG, Sept 2: The country earns about Tk 4.0 billion annually from the particles of Ruhi fish and allied species procured from the Halda river, sources said.
An equal amount of money is also earned from the fish of other species, including delicious galda shrimps.
But it is regrettable that due to lack of proper government initiatives, this vast abode of natural fishes is on the edge of extinction, the sources added.
It was learnt from local people that Ruhi and similar species like Katla, Mrigel and Kalibaush like to lay eggs in the Halda.
Hundreds of egg collectors belonging to Raozan and Hathazari upazilas living on both banks of the river procure eggs during the egg-laying season in the months of April, May and June and turn the eggs into fry releasing those into the wells excavated on the river banks. Later, these are sold in the local markets at high prices, the sources said.
When contacted, a teacher of the Department of Zoology of the Chittagong University told this correspondent that the eggs collected in the Halda played a significant role in the national economy.
Of the total production of fish resources in the country, the Halda river contributes about 6.0 per cent and its contribution to the GDP is an encouraging one.
In these circumstances, proper government steps have been sought so that the breeding process of fish can go on in an uninterrupted way in the Halda river.