Kolkata: The fish-loving Bengalis are expected to relish Hilsa (Ilish) till Durga Puja this year with the catch being much higher in comparison to the previous year.
“Last year, the production of Hilsa was 5571 metric tonnes. This year, the production so far has been over 11,000 metric tonnes. The department had ensured a fishing ban for two months from mid-April to mid-June, resulting in excess production this year,” state Fisheries minister, Biplab Roy Chowdhury, said at the state Assembly on Thursday.
The fishing ban prevented the netting of ‘khoka (small) Ilish’ to a reasonable extent. This has led to an influx of Hilsa, weighing at least over 500 gm, in the markets. The state Fisheries department has planned to impose a fishing ban for three months, next year, which would ensure that people get big-size Hilsa in the market.
As per estimates of the fishermen's association, the production will exceed 17,000 metric tonnes this year as the monsoon is expected to continue till September. “We expect that the netting will reach at least 15,000 metric tonnes till Durga Puja,” Bijan Maity, general secretary of Kakdwip Matsyajibi Unnayan Samity said.
In the Digha-Kolaghat belt, the catch to date has been 250 metric tonnes which is expected to go up to 2,000 till Puja.
The Fisheries minister said that the state is also trying to augment production of small fish, such as, 'mourala', 'puti', 'khoyra', 'bele', 'chanda' etc that have become scarce in the market. “Small fish cannot be properly cultivated in waterbodies where big fish thrive as the latter feed on the smaller ones,” a senior official of the department said.
State Animal Resources Development minister, Swapan Debnath said that for the cultivation of small fish, he will soon hand over a waterbody, measuring three bighas, to the state Fisheries department. It is located adjacent to Vidyasagar Gayaramdas Vidyamandir School at Purbasthali-I block in East Burdwan. “We all have to ensure that small fish with high protein value do not disappear from our platter,” Debnath said.