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Haul of Pangas up in Barishal


Published : 31 Oct 2021 09:48 PM | Updated : 03 Nov 2021 12:50 PM

After the lifting of the 22-day ban on fishing to ensure safe breeding of Hilsa, there is a shortage of Hilsa in the Meghna, but fishermen are catching huge amount of Pangas fish in their nets.

Over the last few days, the amount of Pangas fish in the warehouses of Hilsa region in Barisal has been compensating the loss of the warehouse keepers. At the same time, even though they did not find any Hilsa fish in the river, the fishermen smiled as they caught fish in huge flocks. Fishermen are bringing a large number of river Pangas to the fish market in Barisal.

Yasin Hawlader, a fisherman who brought Pangas fish in a trawler to the city's fish landing station on Sunday morning, said there was a significant shortage of Hilsa in the water, which is expected to rise upstream from the estuary of the Meghna River east of Bhola and the Tentulia River west of Bhola. Meanwhile, fishermen have smiled and caught a lot of Pangas fish in the river. He further said that for the last few days, several swarms of Pangas were located in the Meghna and its tributaries near Hijla downstream of Chandpur upstream of Bhola.

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It has been found that these fish weighing three to ten kg are sold in the river at three to five hundred Tk per kg, but after coming to the yard, they are being sold in the retail market from Tk 2 hundred to Tk 8 hundred per kg.

According to fisheries scientists, a large number of Pangas fish are caught during the winter in various rivers in the southern part of the country, including the Meghna and its tributaries. This time it has flowed upstream from the lower reaches of Meghna and Tentulia rivers. The study even found that in the 22 days of the main breeding season for Hilsa in 2019, in the main Hilsa breeding grounds of the country, experimental sampling found 63% Hilsa pollen and 16% other fish pollen fry. As a result, safe breeding of other fish is being achieved on the coast within 22 days of Hilsa harvesting. This is also playing an important role in increasing the production of other species of fishes in the country, said the Department of Fisheries. This time, the fishery scientists want to emphasize on tolerable harvesting, considering the advance movement of Pangas in the rivers in the last few days as a very good sign.

In this regard, District Fisheries Officer Md Asaduzzaman said that during the 22-day ban on Hilsa breeding, the safe breeding of other fish has also increased and not only Pangas in the rivers; Abundance of different fish is also going to be noticed. He also thinks it is a very good sign.

District Fisheries Officer (Hilsa) Bimal Chandra Das said that despite the lifting of the ban, the abundance of Hilsa in the rivers is still a bit low. In the main breeding ground of 7,000 sq km of the coast, most of the Hilsa are released in the open floating state and roam again in the salt water of the sea. Therefore, at this time of breeding, the movement of Hilsa in the inland rivers of the country is very limited, he said.

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