Manjur Morshed Tuhin, Patuakhali

Drying of various species of fish using air and sun in the open space is called drying (Shutki) . In this method, it is possible to preserve fish for a long time, so the price of dried fish is increasing day by day. Due to the availability of various species of marine fishes in the coastal region of Kuakata, dry fish production is going on throughout the region.

The dry goods produced from here are prepared for export all over Bangladesh including abroad. And local men and women are playing an important role in this work. Women are working equally with men. The workers of this region are trying to change their fortunes by working 12-15 hours a day with only six months in a year to make shutki. After the season they have to find other sources of income.

It can be seen from the surface, in the west of Kuakata beach of Kalapara upazila, in addition to Majhibari, Khajura, there are several other villages including Khalgora, Gangamati, Kauar, Char Dhulasar and Nizampur of Mohipur. At least 30,000 people in this area are engaged in work during the dry season. Half of them are fishermen and the rest are engaged in dry goods production.

Dry fish traders from Kuakata, Mahipur, Alipur, Bablatla and other fisheries directly collect raw fish and take it to their fields for drying. There, big and small fish are dried separately in the sun. After drying for two to four days according to the size, sacks are packed for wholesale sale and arrangements are made to reach the traders of different districts. There are thousands of women workers throughout the region who are engaged in the preparation of packet varieties after drying. However, men and women have different groupings in each job.

Masuda Begum, a female worker of Nizampur Shutki village, said that five of us work together in our team. Our job is to separate the small and big fish after drying. If we can pick one fish by doing production work, we get a wage of 150 taka. If you can pick 10 fish all day, you can't divide 1500 rupees among five people. We have to work at least 12 hours a day.

Kalapara Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Rabiul Islam said, there is no specific allocation system for dry workers, but we are trying how to cooperate by selecting the dry workers and enlisting the fishermen in the BGF card.

District Fisheries Officer Md. Kamruzzaman said that no plan or plan has been proposed by the Directorate of Fisheries for only the dry workers, but according to the statistics, if only the professional dry workers are selected or checked, then government grants or facilities can be arranged for them.

Drying is usually a seasonal business, we want them to be able to do it all year round including the rainy season, so we are planning and supporting them to do indoor drying. We have been sponsoring this kind of method which can dry large size fish within a day or two before being caught.