Power cuts leave 200 hilsa trawlers stranded in Patuakhali for lack of ice
At the height of the hilsa season, when fishing trawlers should be crowding the Bay of Bengal, around 200 are lying idle at the Mahipur and Alipur fish landing centres in Patuakhali, unable to head out due to an acute ice shortage caused by prolonged load shedding.
Frequent power cuts have reduced production at local ice factories, leaving supplies far short of demand. Since fishermen need sufficient ice to preserve their catch during fishing trips, many trawlers have been unable to head out to sea for the past week.
Twenty ice factories supply the two landing centres.
Fishermen preparing to leave from areas near Kuakata said a can of ice, each holding at least 50kg, that used to cost Tk 150 is now selling for Tk 300. Even at the higher price, however, they cannot get the quantity they need.
The crisis is hurting fishermen, trawler owners and ice factory owners alike.
Md Fazlu Gazi, owner of Gazi Ice Plant in Mahipur, said load shedding was occurring 10 to 12 times a day in the area.
“Freezing ice from water requires 12 to 14 hours of uninterrupted electricity. But frequent load shedding disrupts the process, reducing production at local factories. As a result, we are also unable to supply ice according to fishermen’s demand,” he said.
Stakeholders have demanded an uninterrupted power supply to the two fishing ports to resolve the crisis.
Sayed Mia, skipper of FB Sonabanu, a trawler from Banshkhali, has been staying at Mahipur Fish Landing Centre for five days. He said a trawler typically requires 150 to 200 cans of ice for a fishing trip.
“I have been at the landing centre for five days and have not been able to get even one can,” he said.
He added that several factories he approached were willing to supply only 50 to 60 cans, and only at a higher price.
“It is not possible to go on a fishing trip with such a small quantity. We have no idea when we will get ice according to our demand.”
Mizan Hossain, owner of FB Nurjahan, anchored at Alipur, said his trawler had been stranded at the port for a week for the same reason.
“Now it is peak hilsa season, yet we are forced to sit idle. If this continues, losses for trawler owners will increase further,” he said.
Rahim Khan, proprietor of Khan Fish in Alipur, confirmed that the price of ice had doubled and said supplies still could not meet demand.
“We are being forced to bring ice by truck from Khulna, Bagerhat and Barishal. This is pushing up our costs and wasting time,” he said.
He warned that if supplies did not normalise, fish harvesting and marketing would be directly affected, with fishermen, trawler owners and traders all bearing the losses.
Abul Kashem, general manager of Patuakhali Palli Bidyut Samity, said the district was experiencing load shedding because of a fuel shortage at power plants.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Daily demand stood at around 130 megawatts, he said, while only 85 megawatts was being received from the national grid -- a shortfall of 45 megawatts, or roughly 35 percent of demand.
He added that the situation would ease once the fuel shortage was resolved and power plants currently shut for maintenance resumed operation.
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