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Dry fish business vibrant in Sirajganj

Published : Wednesday, 23 January, 2019 at 12:00 AM  Count : 418
Ashok Benarjee
SIRAJGANJ, Jan 22: Lakhs of people in nine upazilas including Tarash and Ullahpara in the district earn their livelihood by netting fish and drying them up to make dry fish.
No private or government cold storage has yet been built here. So, the fishermen and the dry fish traders fall in economic crisis every year.
The dry fish of the Chalan Beel area are popular, but the business is not expanding for lack of patronisation.
The businessmen are demanding government and private assistance to expand the business.
According to field sources, the dry fishes prepared by drying fishes of Chalan Beel area are well known. The dry fish owners are making profit by selling the dry fish. At the same time, they are fulfilling the demand of the people of the country who love dry fish.
Meanwhile, many men and women get job opportunities in the seasonal business. Different varieties of small and big fishes are caught after water recedes in the end of the rainy season.
About 300 dry fish trellises were established in Tarash, Raiganj, Ullahpara and Shahzadpur upazilas of the district this year.
The dry fishes are prepared from tengra, puti, kholshe, batashi, chela, mola, dhela, taki, guchi, baim, shol, boal, gozar, koi, magur and shing fishes. They buy the fishes at Taka 30 to 250 per kg and make dry fishes.
The dry fishes are supplied to Syedpur, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Narayanganj and Chattogram.
When the scarcity of fish happens in summer, the dry fishes are sold. Per Kg mola, dhela, chanda and small shrimp are being sold at Taka 350 400, puti at Taka 450 to 500, tengra at Taka 600 to 650, taki at Taka 500 to 550. But, the dry fish of boal and shol are being at Taka 800 to 1,000.
According to the Fisheries Office, about 140 to 150 metric tons of dry fish worth about Taka 18 to 20 crore will be produced. Thousands of men and women are engaged in the work. The dry fish industry cannot move forward for lack of government and non-government loan, marketing problem, and cold storage.
The dry fish traders and workers demanded small interest loan, cold storage and government and non government patronisation.
Nazrul Islam of Hamkuria Village in Tarash Upazila said, "The fishermen catch fish whole day long in Chalan Beel area. They sell the fish to Mohishluti Bazaar but there is no fish market in the evening. So fishes get rotten."
Rashidul Islam of Naogaon Union said, "I run the fish trellis by taking loan. At the beginning, the fishes worth Taka 2 lakh were damaged due to rain. The loss is irreparable. If there were a cold storage, I would not face the damage."
Mohishluti Fish Wholesale Samity President Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said, "The dry fish made by the fish of Chalan Beel are popular across the country. Several tonnes of fishes are collected every day from the beel area. But there is permanent trellis for making dry fishes."
He also said the dry fish industries might contribute to country's economy if the workers were trained up and there were cold storages.
So, he demanded loan facility and training for the workers and installation of cold storages to expand the business.
Amena Begum of Tarash Upazila said she earns Taka 200 to 250 per day to work in the dry fish trellis. Many women also work in the trellis like her.
District Fisheries Officer Khandakar Mahbub Haque said huge quantity of local variety fishes are caught in the Chalan Beel area of Tarash, Raiganj, Ullahpara and Shahjadpur upazilas. The fishermen collect fish and make dry fish under their own initiative.
He said the workers are receiving training in small scale and initiatives have been taken to provide them different assistances.













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