A fishing trawler netted a massive haul of 61 maunds (approximately 2.3 tonnes) of hilsa from the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal, near Kuakata in Patuakhali.
The catch was auctioned on Monday afternoon at the Alipur fish landing station for a total of Tk 3,348,704.
Fisherman Abu Saleh said 22 fishermen aboard the trawler FB Allah`r Daan set out from the Alipur ghat last Thursday.
They cast their nets about 170 kilometers off the Kuakata coast and hauled in a large quantity of hilsa on Saturday afternoon. The trawler returned to the Alipur port the following day with the catch.
The hilsa were auctioned at the Khan Fish warehouse in the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) market.
Manager Sagar Mia stated that hilsa weighing between 900 grams and 1 kilogram were sold at Tk 73,000 per maund, those weighing 600 to 800 grams at Tk 58,000 per maund, and 400 to 500 grams at Tk 44,000 per maund. An additional Tk 40,000 worth of other marine fish were also sold with the catch.
Earlier, on July 9, another trawler named FB Sadia-2 caught 65 maunds of hilsa from the same area. That haul was sold to Khan Fish for Tk 3.96 million.
Khan Fish owner Abdur Rahim Khan noted that fishermen have recently been returning with large hilsa catches. “There has been a good supply from the deep sea for several days now,” he added.
Apu Saha, Senior Fisheries Officer of Kalapara upazila, confirmed that hilsa catches have been promising recently, particularly in deeper waters. He added that if favorable weather continues, fish supplies are expected to increase further.
