By Md. Zillur Rahaman

In order to protect the national fish hilsa with the aim of proper breeding and propagation of mother hilsa, the government has imposed a ban on hunting mother hilsa during the breeding season for a total of 22 days from October 13 to November 3, 2024. At this time, the government has ordered to stop the collection, transportation, marketing and stockpiling of mother hilsa. With the aim of keeping the growth of hilsa intact by creating opportunities for free breeding alongwith securing the migration and movement of mother hilsa, the relevant department of the government will implement the ban on fishing by all types of commercial trawlers in the sea coast and estuaries.

Bangladesh is a riverine country and Hilsa is the national fish of Bangladesh. In 2017, Hilsa fish from Bangladesh was recognized as a Geographical Indication or GI product. Both the sea and the river are the breeding grounds of hilsa. It is very difficult to find a Bengali in the country and abroad who does not like hilsa. Hilsa is truly unmatched in taste and quality. The extra flavour of hilsa makes the tongues of all Bengalis water. In the past years, Hilsa had almost disappeared and in such a context, the breeding and production of Hilsa has increased significantly due to various measures taken by the government, including the ban on mother Hilsa hunting. It is as if Bengalis have regained their old tradition of fish and rice.

The mother hilsa lays eggs twice a year. Most in September-October and the rest in February-March and April. A mother hilsa lays a maximum of 1 to 2.3 million i.e. 10 to 23 lakh eggs at a time in a season and takes care of the eggs all the time in the nursing ground. To save the newly hatched eggs from the hands of the enemy, it sometimes moves around with its mouth full. The care of the mother hilsa continues until the baby hatches from the egg and learns to swim. When they become suitable for swimming, the children swim with the mother hilsa and move around at will. Father hilsa also plays a role in raising hilsa baby. When the mother hilsa leaves the cubs to forage for food, the father hilsa looks after them.

Despite all this care, only 10-20 percent of samll hilsa (jatkas) get a chance to grow properly in the salt water of the sea. Because about 30 percent of the eggs are eaten by other fish and animals, about 10 percent is lost early due to malnutrition and later, about 20 percent were caught as fingerlings and 30 percent as jatka in fishermen's nets. It is said that if even 50 percent of the eggs could grow properly, then half of the different river basins and the Bay of Bengal would be occupied by hilsa.

Hilsa chicks grow from 12 cm to 20 cm in 6-10 weeks. Then call them Jatka. A jatka fish takes 1 to 2 years to develop into a full-fledged hilsa. It is 32 cm to 60 cm in size and 1 to 3 kg in weight. The Jatkaras go to sea with Mother Hilsa. There, it turns into a full-fledged hilsa and returns to the river during breeding season.

For the preservation and proper breeding of mother hilsa, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of the government has banned the catching, buying, selling and transporting of hilsa for 22 days from October 13 of this month to November 3, 2024, like every year. Because at this time, 80 percent of mother-hilsa lays eggs. They lay their eggs mainly in fresh water. Therefore, four days before the full moon of Ashwin and 18 days after the full moon, for a total of 22 days, fishing will be prohibited in the coastal areas of the country, alongwith river estuaries in the districts and rivers where hilsa is found. Earlier, a ban of 65 consecutive days was in force. Hilsa has two main breeding seasons - September-October (Bhadra month to mid Kartik) and January to February (Mid Paush to mid Falgun) but the breeding rate is higher in the first season than the second season.

Fisheries experts say that the course of hilsa depends on the rain. If the rainfall increases, the import of hilsa also increases with the increase of water in the river. The Protection and Conservation of Fish Rules 1985 has been amended and declared 6 hilsa sanctuaries by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.

Among them, the five sanctuaries in which fishing is prohibited for 65 days are - about 100 km area of Tentulia river from Veduria in Bhola to Charrustam in Patuakhali, 100 km area in the lower basin of Meghna river from Shatanal in Chandpur to Char Alexander in Laxmipur, Hijla in Barisal, Mehendiganj and about 82 km area of Kalabadar, Ghazaria and Meghna rivers in Barisal Sadar upazila, Madanpur in Bhola, 90 km area of Shahbazpur branch of Meghna river from Char Ilisha to Charpial and 20 km area of Padma river located between Naria and Vedarganj upazilas of Shariatpur and Matlab upazila of Chandpur.

Every year in March and April, fishing is prohibited in the said sanctuary. At that time, the government provided assistance of 25 kg per month for two months to the listed jails of the six districts concerned. The government has announced that during this ban, transportation, marketing, buying and selling, storage and exchange of hilsa will be completely prohibited in the 7,000 square kilometer area of the hilsa breeding area. Violators can be punished with rigorous imprisonment from 1 year to a maximum of 2 years or with fine up to five thousand taka or with both.

Although hilsa is a saltwater fish or marine fish, it mostly lives in the sea but migrates long distances to rivers to breed. The general distance of rivers from Bay of Bengal to Bangladesh is 50 km to 100 km. Hilsa is mainly found in abundance in the Padma, Meghna and Godavari rivers of Bangladesh and chooses this area for breeding. Hilsa fish is also caught from the sea but the sea hilsa is not as tasty as river fish. Hilsa fish is more available at the confluence of three rivers in Chandpur district, that is why Chandpur district is famous for Hilsa and Chandpur is called the home of Hilsa.

Hilsa is an economically important tropical fish. Large quantities of hilsa are caught every year from the Bay of Bengal delta, the estuaries of the Padma-Meghna-Yamuna rivers. It is a marine fish but this fish lays its eggs in fresh water of big rivers. When the eggs hatch and the baby grows, the hilsa fish returns to the sea. This fish is caught by fishermen on their way back to the sea.

Due to the recent long ban of 65 days, a lot of good and large size hilsa has been found in the market this year like last year. With the abundance of hilsa in recent years, it seems as if the heyday of hilsa has returned. The price of a hilsa fish of the same size and weight as it used to be in the past years has come within reach in recent years. Moreover, hilsa weighing up to one and a half to two kg has also been seen in the market this year, which was like a dream before. In July 2018, a hilsa weighing 3.6 kg was caught by fishermen in Meghna river in Kamalnagar, Laxmipur, which was sold for Tk 14,500. Earlier in 2016, 3.5 kg hilsa was caught in the Meghna river. In addition, in 2018, 3.2 kg of hilsa was caught in the Meghna river at Chandpur Sadar. However, this year the price of hilsa is relatively high, due to which many people could not taste hilsa even if they wanted to.

Almost 86 percent of the world's hilsa is produced in Bangladesh. The contribution of hilsa to the gross domestic product (GDP) is 1 percent and the contribution of hilsa to the total fish production of the country is about 12 percent. In the last 13 years, the production of hilsa has increased by almost 90 percent in the country. In the fiscal year 2008-09, the production of the national fish hilsa was at 2.98 lakh tons, in the fiscal year 2021-22, hilsa production was at 5.65 lakh tons and in the fiscal year 2022-23, 5.71 lakh tons, i.e, in the last five years, the average production of hilsa has been more than two and a half percent. According to the Department of Fisheries, about 5 lakh people are directly engaged in hilsa harvesting and 20 to 25 lakh people are directly or indirectly involved.

During this 22-day ban, day and night raids and mobile courts will be conducted by the local administration in all the rivers and streams of the concerned 38 districts for proper conduct of raids and surveillance. During the main breeding season, when hilsa harvesting and jatka fishing is prohibited, food assistance is being given to the fishermen of jatka and hilsa-rich areas this year also at the rate of 25 kg per family.

According to fisheries scientists, if these control measures can be taken at a certain time of the year, then every year hilsa fish will be easily available for everyone. In this way, Hilsa, known as the national fish of Bangladesh, will not need much time to return its lost glory "Mache Bhate Bengali". For this reason, it is very important to be aware of the buyers, sellers and fishermen as well as proper supervision of the field administration. A mother hilsa lays a maximum of 1 to 2.3 million i.e. 10 to 23 lakh eggs at a time per breeding season and if even 50 percent of the eggs could grow properly, then half of the different rivers and the Bay of Bengal would be occupied by hilsa. That's why the importance and significance of protecting mother hilsa is very important for the country's economy and meat.

The writer is a, Banker and Columnist Satish Sarker Road, Gandaria, Dhaka.