<i>Luck smiles on Cox's Bazar fishermen</i>

Good catches of hilsa after a dull month

22 August 2009, 17:00 PM

A Correspondent,Cox's Bazar

Fishery Ghat in Cox's Bazar sees huge supply of hilsa as good catches of the popular fish is being netted from the sea.Photo: STAR

Cox's Bazar coast now sees netting of good amount of hilsa, much to the happiness of around 80,000 fishermen who had remained virtually jobless during the last one month. The recent development in Cox's Bazar is unlike many other areas of the country, especially the rivers and coastal areas of Barisal and Patuakhali regions that see scanty supply of the fish even during the ongoing hilsa season. Until recently, about 7,000 trawlers in Cox's Bazar region had to suspend catching hilsa for about one month as the sea was rough due to inclement weather. Now trawlers are returning with catches of 5,000 to 10,000 pieces of hilsa each and it sells for Tk six to 12 lakh as 100 pieces of the fish, each piece weighing from 600 to 900 grams, are selling for Tk 10,000 to 12,000. At retail level, a hilsa is selling for around Tk 250. However, most of the fish are being loaded into trucks and supplied to different areas of the country including Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. During a visit to Nuniachhata ghat, the main wholesale fish market in Cox's Bazar town, this correspondent saw about 30 trawlers busy selling hilsa to the wholesalers. “Hilsa is being caught in the deep sea about 150 kilometre off Cox's Bazar coast for the last couple of days. Good catches are expected if the weather remains favourable for some more days,” said Aminul Islam, 56, sareng (operator) of trawler FB Tithi. Omar Kazi, 40, a businessman at Fisherighat said, around 120 trawlers sold about 6 lakh pieces of hilsa worth Tk 8 crore in the wholesale market. “About 80,000 fishermen could not go to the sea for fishing for more than one month as the sea was rough due to cyclone, depression, low and stormy weather. It was a hard time for them. With good catches of hilsa and good returns for it, they are now happy ahead of the Ramadan,” said Nurul Islam, president of Fisherighat Fish Traders Association. Huge amount of hilsa is also being caught in Teknaf, Moheshkhali and Kutubdia areas, Cox's Bazar Boat Owners' Association President Mujibur Rahman said.