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Where have the hilshas gone?

AKTER FARUK SHAHIN, Barisal
Hilsha, once found aplenty, is now a rare fish.
The hilsha season began about a month ago, but there is yet no trace of the usual swarm of the fish in the bay.
According to fishermen and wholesalers, the season of hilsha began from early April. The season is expected to last for at least four months.
Fishermen and suppliers are frustrated, as very few hilsha have been caught this season.
The general secretary of the wholesalers association of Barisal said during the peak season 10 to 15 thousand maunds of hilsha is caught every day, but the production has come down to a few hun dred maunds this season.
About 290 fish traders have invested Tk 150 crore as 'advance' given to the fishermen.
As the catch of the fish is extremely poor, traders are worried about getting back their money, let alone making profit. The fishermen are in deeper trouble-- many of them have not yet been able to pay back the loan taken last season and are in no position to pay it this year.
According to the information received from the fishermen's cooperative society of Kalapara upazila under Patuakhali district, many trawlers go out to sea every day in search of hilsha, but most of them are coming back empty.
Sea-going trawlers are finding it difficult even to meet the expenses of the fuel consumed. Same is the position of the trawlers and fishing boats engaged in catching hilsha in the river mouths.
Leaders of the Kalapara cooperative society informed that about Tk 90 crore has been given to fishermen this year as advance. "But there is little hope of getting the money back," said the leaders.
According to the fisheries department office at Barisal, indiscriminate catching of 'Jatka' is responsible for the present crisis.
But fishermen believe that due to formation of shoals near the seashore, the fish might have changed their course of movement and have gone to the deep sea, outside the fishing zone of trawlers.
The crisis has pushed the price of hilsha (medium size) to Tk 10,000 per maund, while it was around Tk 2,500 last year.
Hilsha export to India has also been stopped. According to an exporter, the available quantity of hilsha is not enough to export the fish to India.