Bengal records scanty Hilsa catch, eyes imports
KOLKATA: It has been more than two months since the southwest monsoon hit West Bengal, but the Hilsa, popularly known as the Queen of Fishes, aren’t biting.
Fishermen, who venture into the sea and catch the fish from the estuaries, have complained of a meagre catch, but imports provide a glimmer of hope, with the expectation that the Bangladesh government may allow some consignments ahead of the festive Durga Puja season.
“The catch has been very poor this year. Till now we have hardly been able to catch around 2000 tons. In a year, when the catch is normal, the catch may go up to 20,000 – 25,000 tons. Earlier when the catch used to be good it went up to 60,000 – 70,000 tons,” said Bijan Maity, president of the Kakdwip Fishermen Association in Bengal, talking about the catch during monsoon, from June to September.
During the monsoon, shoals of Hilsa swim several kilometres from the sea into estuaries and then upstream along the rivers to spawn, after which they return to the Bay of Bengal. The eggs hatch in freshwater and the sub-adult Hilsa swim downstream into the sea. There’s another cycle in February and March. “This migration depends on multiple factors from depth of water at the mouth of rivers, amount of rainfall, river flush and water-pollution...,” said Shyamsundar Das, joint secretary of West Bengal United Fishermen Association.
Experts said that siltation on the riverbeds near the mouth of the river is a major factor. If the Hilsa doesn’t get a depth of 30 - 40 feet, it won’t swim upstream. In the Hooghly this depth has come down to around 20 - 25 feet due to years of siltation.
There is another major factor behind the decline. Bengal’s gastronomic greed to savour Hilsa has resulted in reckless fishing. Thousands of mechanized boats resort to bottom trawling, using small-holed fishing nets, and destroying the young fish.
“In India there is a fishing ban from mid-april to mid-june. But we also need to increase the net size so that juveniles can be spared,” said Utpal Bhowmik a Hilsa expert and the former head of the riverine fishery division at Central Inland Fishery Research Institute.
Right now everyone is counting on imports. “A few exporters in Bangladesh have already applied for permission. We hope that the Bangladesh government will allow some consignments before the Puja season,” said SA Maqsood, secretary of the Fish Importers’ Association in West Bengal.
This year, Bengal will celebrate Durga Puja in in the second week of October.