Hilsa slips out of reach as sea catches plummet

Many people are yet to taste hilsa this season because of exorbitant prices, while the peak period for catching the national fish draws to a close. Fishermen in the Bay of Bengal say this year's hauls are far smaller than last year's.

In most cases, the catch does not even cover the cost of going to sea.

Last week, two fishing boats of Hasan Ali, a resident of the Tekpara area in Cox's Bazar, came back with barely 200 hilsa between them. The fish, a staple of festivals and family gatherings for many Bangladeshis, once filled his nets.

But this time, one trawler landed only 30 hilsa and the other 150. Hasan sold the lot for Tk 1.5 lakh, much lower than the Tk 8 lakh he spent on fuel, ice, supplies, and wages.

"Since the 58-day government fishing ban ended on June 12, we have been able to make four trips to the sea. Three ended in losses, and one helped us recover the cost," said a frustrated Hasan, whose colleagues have faced similar experiences.

Hilsa has become scarce not only in Cox's Bazar, one of the main landing points for marine fish, but also in key fishing grounds such as Patuakhali on the southern coast.

Cox's Bazar contributed 7 percent of the total hilsa catch of 5.21 lakh tonnes in fiscal year 2023-24, according to the Yearbook of Fisheries Statistics of Bangladesh.

Fishermen describe spending hours casting nets without finding a single fish. Many have been in the trade for decades and know no other work.

But as catches decline, staying afloat financially is becoming harder for them.

"There are no fish in the sea. What can we do? We had to return almost empty-handed," said Nurul Afsar, a boatman who went out with 22 fishermen on his large trawler early this month.

Afsar said the sea was rough, so they came back early. He said the trip cost his firm about Tk 4.5 lakh in fuel, ice, food, and wages, but the catch was too small to recover it. He lost nearly Tk 2.5 lakh on that voyage.

"If this continues, our business will sink," he commented.

Meanwhile, with supplies falling, hilsa prices have gone beyond the reach of many households. In Dhaka, the fish was at Tk 900-2,200 per kilogramme yesterday, nearly 7 percent more than a month ago and 29 percent higher than the Tk 800-1,600 last year, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

Asked why hilsa numbers are falling, fisherman Hasan said hilsa catchers used to use nets with wider gaps. But many have now switched to fine-mesh "current nets" that trap even the smallest fish. "Indiscriminate catching of juveniles is emptying the sea," he said.

Delwar Hossain, secretary of the Cox's Bazar Fishing Trawler Owners' Association, said that from mid-August to mid-October, juvenile hilsa, known locally as jatka, swim close to shore in shallow water.

Once they reach about 400 grammes, they move into deeper seas. "But during this growth period, thousands of trawlers from areas such as Kutubdia to Mohipur use fine-mesh nets, indiscriminately destroying the jatka," said Hossain.

"As a result, they cannot mature into adult hilsa, and production is falling day by day. If this continues, hilsa may disappear from our seas," he added.

At Cox's Bazar, hilsa weighing 1-1.4 kg is at Tk 1,800 each wholesale, higher than a year ago. According to Hossain, both scarcity of hilsa and middlemen are pushing prices up.

Ashish Kumar Baidya, manager of the Cox's Bazar Fish Landing Centre, said hilsa supply is decreasing day by day.

"Fishermen are catching less in the sea, so even wholesale prices remain high," he said. Only 356 tonnes of hilsa were landed at the Cox's Bazar centre in the past three months, compared with 1,628 tonnes in fiscal year 2024-25.

Md Raja Mia, general secretary of the Fish Traders' Association of the Mohipur Fish Landing Centre in Patuakhali, said very few hilsa are being caught this season compared with previous years.

"Although some jatka have been caught, hilsa of one kilogramme or larger in size are very few. This time all traders are counting losses," he said, adding that each small trader has lost nearly Tk 5 lakh this year.

"The losses of big traders are even higher. If such losses continue, many fishermen will be forced to leave this profession," Mia said.

Patuakhali supplied 13 percent of the country's hilsa catch in 2023-24, according to the Department of Fisheries.

About the catches, Patuakhali District Fisheries Officer Md Kamrul Islam offered a hopeful note.

"There is abundant movement of hilsa in the sea. However, this year, due to frequent low pressure and adverse weather, fishermen have not been able to go to the deep sea to catch fish. Once the weather becomes favourable, fishermen will hopefully get a large number of hilsa," said Islam.

[Our Patuakhali correspondent Sohrab Hossain contributed to this story.]