Due to low fish farming areas in four upazilas of Chuadanga, the district cannot produce the sufficient quantity of fish to meet its own demand.
Sources said the annual fish demand in the district is 25,246 metric tons while the fish production is 23,626 metric tons.
Every year the number of fish farmers is increasing but the area of fish farming land is not increasing. As a result, there is a shortage of fish production compared to its demand in the district. Wholesale fish traders are buying fish from different districts to meet the shortage of fish in Chuadanga.
The total water area in the district is 6,500.75 hectares and currently, the number of fish farmers is 9,312. In the financial year 2022-2023, there were 8,426 fish farmers.
During the financial year 2022-2023, the shortage of fish was 1,505 metric tons while the deficit was 1,620 metric tons in 2023-24 financial year. Fishermen, fish farmers and fisheries department are trying to meet the deficit.
Chuadanga District Fisheries Officer Dipak Kumar Pal said the amount of water bodies suitable for fish farming in Chuadanga is 5.54 percent, which is much less than required. The total water area in the district is 6,500.75 hectares. Of them, there are six rivers and their areas are 1,004 hectares. The district has 11,058 ponds and their areas are 2,650.81 hectares. There are 10 baors, covering 498 hectares of land in the district. The district has 61 beels, covering 1,161 hectares of land.
The annual fish demand in the district is 25,246 metric tons as 65 grams per capita per day. On the contrary, ponds, canals, beels, baors and rivers together produce 23,626 metric tons of fish. According to the figure, there is a shortage of 1,620 metric tons of fish in the district.
In the fiscal year 2022-2023, the number of wholesale fish markets in this district was 71 while it increased to 79 in the fiscal year 2023-2024. In the financial year 2022-2023, there were 8,426 fish farmers while in the financial year 2023-2024, the number of fish farmers stood at 9,312.
In the financial year 2022-2023, there were 950 trained fish farmers while in 2023-2024, the number of farmers increased to 1,430.
In the financial year 2022-2023, the production of monosex tilapia fish fry was 1,650 kgs while it increased to 1,776 kgs in the financial year 2023-2024.
In the financial year 2022-2023, the number of fish hatchery traders was 401 while the number of fish hatchery traders in the financial year 2023-2024 stood at 297. The number of traders has decreased by 104 people.
According to the calculations, the number of fishermen in the district is 5,112 in the 2023-2024 financial year. These fishermen are earning their livelihood under the purview of 44 fishermen associations.
The District Fisheries Department provides necessary training and loans on easy terms to the fishermen. As a result, fish farmers and fishermen can make necessary investment for their fish farming. Moreover, all kinds of suggestions for fish farming in modern methods are given by the Department of Fisheries to all those concerned with fish production.
