Bangladesh top hilsa-producing country

With an aim to create mass awareness on preserving Jatka (Hilsa fry), the national 'Jatka Conservation Week-2019' started yesterday. The campaign will continue till March 22 in 36 Hilsa inhabited districts in the country. This year the slogan of the week is 'Kono Jal Felbona, Jatka Ilish Dhorbon Na (No netting to catch Jatka)".

Jatka is the local name for the young or juvenile hilsa (below the size of 10 inch or 25 cm). Migrating adult females release eggs upstream in major rivers, including the Padma, Jamuna and Meghna.

After hatching from free-floating eggs, the larvae remains in their nursery grounds for some time where they feed and grow. Fishermen want to catch these Jatka hampering the production of hilsa, the national fish of Bangladesh. It is banned to catch, sell, transport and store Jatka. If one does so, he or she will be sentenced minimum one year to maximum 2 years imprisonment  or fined Tk 5,000 or suffer both punishments.

The lifecycle of hilsa is diverse. They live in the saline water of seas. They come to the sweet water of upstream in rivers to lay eggs. One hilsa lays 3-21 lakh eggs. The eggs laid by hilsa fishes in sweet water are hatched within 22 to 26 hours and the larvae remains in their nursery grounds for some time where they feed and grow.

The fries roam in rivers 5-6 months. Thereafter, they head to seas.A hilsa fish (size of male- 22 to 25 cm and female 28 to 30 cm) reaches a breeding age at 1-2 years. Hilsa fishes lay eggs all over the year. But the period from September to October is their main breeding season.

It is crucial to set up sanctuaries for boosting the hilsa production. On the basis of the research conducted by the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI), six sanctuaries for hilsa fishes have been set up in the country.The usual lifespan of hilsa is 5-7 years. Ninety percent hilsa fishes are caught when their size become 30-50 cm.

There are three species of hilsa in Bangladesh. Of them, two species of hilsa fishes- Chandan and Gurta- spend their whole life in seas and the other species in saline and sweet water. Hilsa can make a journey of 70 km every day against the tide.

This fish is found in 11 countries of the world, which include: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Bangladesh is the top hilsa-producing country in the world followed by Myanmar and India respectively.

70-75 percent of the total hilsa fishes are caught in the country. Among 11 hilsa-producing countries, production has dropped in 10 countries. But the hilsa production has reached 5.17 lakh tons in FY 2017-18 in the country due to the implementation of the proper hilsa management strategy.