Staff Reporter :
At present, 86 percent of the world’s hilsa is being produced in Bangladesh which was 65 percent four years ago. The production of hilsa has continuously increased during this period due to various efforts of the present government.
This information has come up as the current month of the international fisheries organization WorldFish. A two-day international research conference was held in India last Wednesday and Thursday. One of the topics of discussion was how the production of Hilsa increased in Bangladesh.
Lately, the effect of increasing the production of Hilsa in the country’s market is also being seen. Hilsa has been available in the local markets as well as in the Capital for the last few weeks.
Meanwhile, according to WorldFish, Bangladesh’s neighbors India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have seen a decline in hilsa production. India is the second-largest hilsa producer after Bangladesh. Five years ago, the country produced about 25 percent of the world’s hilsa. However, their production has dropped to about 10 percent this year.
Myanmar is the third hilsa producing country. About 3 percent hilsa has been produced here. The rest of Hilsa has been produced in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Pakistan.
Regarding the success of hilsa production in Bangladesh, Professor Abdul Wahab, team leader of WorldFish Bangladesh’s Ecofish project, said that the success was due to the cessation of mother and Jatka hilsa in Bangladesh, expansion of sanctuaries and protection of fishermen. Many countries around the world are now following the model created by Bangladesh government agencies to increase hilsa production in the country.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sham Rezaul Karim said, “We have achieved this success here as we have stopped catching mother and Jatka hilsa.” The expansion and protection of sanctuaries have also played a role in the growth of Hilsa. The production of hilsa will increase in the future as the shape of the hilsa catching net has been redefined.
Meanwhile, experts say that as part of the campaign to protect mother hilsa, fishing is stopped for 22 days every year from October 7 to October 28 during the main breeding season for hilsa. This program has also played a big role to increase Hilsa production.
According to Yahya Mahmud, Director General of the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, all the government initiatives were taken to increase the production of hilsa in Bangladesh were based on scientific research. We are getting its benefits now.
According to WorldFish, Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Research Institute, this time no country is close to Bangladesh’s hilsa not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of size.
The Department of Fisheries of Bangladesh, Fisheries Research Institute, and WorldFish conducted the first joint study on the genetic characteristics and dynamics of Hilsa in Bangladesh in 2018-19.
