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Dry fish producers in Sirajganj suffer for lack of cold storage

Published : Wednesday, 18 November, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 235
Ashok Benarjee
SIRAJGANJ, Nov 17: Dry fish producers of the district are suffering for lack of cold storage here.
Water from Chalan Beel (water body) in the district is receding. Fishermen are netting various fish, and with these, they are producing dry fishes.
Labourers and traders are passing busy time in chatals (drying yards).
After meeting the local demand, dry fishes from Sirajganj are going to different foreign countries. The export has been going on for the last several years, according to trading sources.
Several thousand people are running lives on dry fish production, marketing and trading.
Despite various hindrances, the dry fish production is increasing in Sirajganj. This year's production will exceed the last year's over 50 metric tons (MT), said District Fisheries Department.
Yet marketing of the currently produced dry fishes is facing problem. Produces are not getting the expected prices. In the absence of cold storage, lack of modern system to process and market, the producers and traders are suffering setback.
Producers said, due to these problems, dry fishes worth crores of taka are being destroyed every year. Dry fishes are produced with mixing only salt, not any chemical. As a result, these dry fishes cannot be preserved for long. In this situation, cold storage and marketing facilities have been demanded by them in order to protect the dry fish sector.
The dry fishes being produced from the sweet water fishes of Chalan Beel are tasty and have great demand in home and abroad. Every year, the demand is increasing. From October to March, the dry fish production continues. At that time, huge fish are netted from Chalan Beel.
Chatals have been raised in different places. These are located in Magurabinod, Naogaon and Mahishluti areas of Tarash Upazila, Mohanpur, Udhunia and Boropangasi areas in Ullahpara Upazila, and different areas of the Shahzadpur Upazila.
Local fishes like shrimp, tengra, fry, kholse, batasi, chela, taki, bine, shoal, boal, gozar, magur, shing, and koi are dried. Man and woman dry fishes together.
One Kafil Uddin of Mahishluti Village said, mainly shoal, taki, boal, tengra, and chanda are caught.
"We work round the clock to dry fishes," he also said.
He added, their profits will be higher, if modern technology is used in drying. He demanded cold storage.
He was echoed by others like Shahjahan Sheikh and Ayub Ali of Gayhatta Village under Boropangasi Union in Ullahpara Upazila.
They said, they do not have work in the rainy season. Then they spend whole night and day in catching fishes from the beel. The catches are sold to warehouses. From there, the fishes are sent to chatals for drying. Besides fishing, they also work in chatals as labourers.
A fish trader Nannu Bepary of Shahzadpur said the dry fish of Sirajganj has great demand across the country. The main bazaars are Dhaka, Chattogram, Nilphamari, Rangpur and Dinajpur districts. From Chattogram, after processing, dry fishes are exported to foreign countries.
According to him, there is problem in marketing dry fishes here. These fishes cannot be preserved for long. So, dry fish producers and traders cannot make much profit.
If dry fish processing is managed properly and the market is developed accordingly, the government will huge revenue from this sector, he added.
District Fisheries Officer Shahed Ali said there are at least 40 chatals in 23 places of Tarash, Ullahpara and Shahzadpur upazilas of the district. About 2,000 people are engaged in dry fish processing while thousand others are beneficiaries. From here, dry fishes are being exported to at least 20 countries including India, Bahrain, Qatar and different western countries.    
Dry fish sector of Sirajganj has much potential. But to tap the potentiality, it is necessary to explore, process and improve the overall situation. These needs have been informed to the highest authorities.
This year, fish population has increased thanks to effective campaign to protect fry and lingering flood. So, this year's dry fish production will go up. Last year, the dry fish production was 95 MT. This year, about 150 MT is expected.
On behalf of the Fisheries Department, labourers have been provided with various assistances including training. Besides, in order to improve the living standard of the fishers and others, a proposal has been submitted to the department concerned. It included arranging training on dry fish processing and a cold storage with modern technology, he disclosed.





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