Largest-ever Tuna fish caught from Bay

The country's largest-ever Tuna fish weighing 55 kilograms was caught by fishermen from the Bay of Bengal thanks to their access to the deep sea following victory over maritime disputes with Myanmar and India.

Fishermen have confirmed the record of catching the biggest Tuna fish to be ever caught on the Bay's Bangladesh part, experts and traders concerned said.

The Tuna fish was caught in the deep sea which was brought to Fisherighat in the Chittagong city for auction on Saturday.

Sea Food Bangladesh & Co, an online based fish shop in the country, bought the fish from the auction.

Tuna is also known as 'Maitta fish' in Chittagong. Sized between 4 and 6 kg Tuna is normally found in the Bay of Bengal's Bangladesh part, but the fish, which was caught by a group of fishermen, is 10 times bigger than the normal catch, traders said.

Tuna fish can weigh more than 500 kg which is found in Atlantic and elsewhere in the world, they said.

Owner of the Sea Food Bangladesh & Co Syed Mahatab Uddin Ahmed told the FE that the yellow-fin Tuna was 5.6 feet in length and weighed 55 kg.

 "We have sold it to Cloud Bistro Chinese Restaurant at Pantha Path in Dhaka at Tk 0.115 million. The restaurant is our regular customer," he said.

He said two kinds of Tuna --- protein-rich and protein-less --- can be found in the Bay.

 "The latest catch was a protein-rich one," he said.

Mr Ahmed said this Tuna was the biggest ever in Bangladesh as the earlier records were less than 20 kg.   

Prof Dr Nani Gopal Dash of Institute of Marine Science and Fisheries at Chittagong University said: "It is an exceptional case considering the catch of Tuna. This giant-sized Tuna can be found only in deep sea."

He said the country has re-established her ownership over a vast area in the sea which has given the fishermen scope to go to the deep part of the sea for catching big and high-valued fish.

He said: "Special ships are needed to catch big-sized fish like Tuna, Sword fish etc and those are caught by fishing hooks".

 "We have a lack of such ships," he said.  

However, leading local fishing firms are eyeing turnover worth millions of dollars in their business following the landmark maritime boundary victories against Myanmar and India.

Terming the extended zone, awarded to Bangladesh in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) verdicts, a golden treasure, they said there are immense possibilities of catching high-valued fishes from the sea area.

As a result, the nation can be turned into one of the top fish exporters of the world after execution of the verdicts.

They said various high-valued fishes, like yellow-fin Tuna, Swordfish, Black Marlin, Toadfish, Mackerel, Sardine Fish (Pilchards), Rupchanda and Hilsa etc, might be caught from the Bay of Bengal.

Tuna fish is one of the world's most expensive fishes. Export price of per tonne Tuna is about US$ 6,750-$ 7,000 and yellow-fin Tuna of the Bay of Bengal has high demand across the globe, according to Washington-based Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS).

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