“The production has more than doubled since 2001-02 due to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s sincerity, goodwill and efforts,” he said at a workshop in Dhaka on Wednesday (January 24). “Hilsa is our pride and it also offers a big area for earning foreign currency. We want to move forward with nurturing, care and various research plans to increase production,” he said.
“It will be possible to achieve further growth in hilsa production if everyone contributes in their own way.” He said the fishing of underdeveloped hilsa or ‘jatka’ must be stopped and anyone using illegal nets will be punished. He said that due to the proper implementation of mother hilsa conservation campaign in 2023, as much as 52.4 percent of hilsa have successfully spawned, which is 104.8 percent more than the base year 2001-02.
In order to get the benefit of mother hilsa conservation, the young hilsa produced this year (jatka) must be carefully preserved, he added. Bangladesh has been seeing a substantial increase in hilsa production since it launched a ‘jatka’ (immature hilsa 6-10cm long) preservation programme in 2003-4. In 2016-17 fiscal year, the country produced 4.96 lakh metric tonnes of hilsa. The amount increased to 5.65 lakh MT in the 2020-21 FY, according to the Department of Fisheries.
In 2022, hilsa production increased by 85% over the last 12 years and the availability of big-sized hilsa went up by 25%, said former fisheries minister SM Rezaul Karim. Hilsa is Bangladesh’s national fish and contributes immensely to the economy, employment and export. More than 12.09% of the country’s fish production comes from hilsa.