‘Fishing no longer enough to run our families’

Nur Hossain Majhi, a veteran fisherman at Samraj Fish Landing Station in Char Fasson, said this with a weary face and a deep sigh.

His lament reflects the harsh reality facing fishing communities in coastal Char Fasson and Monpura. Thousands of fishermen who once depended on the Bay of Bengal, the Meghna and Tentulia rivers for their livelihoods are now struggling with mounting debt, declining catches and rising costs.

Fishermen said pressure to repay loans from NGOs and informal lenders, poor catches, repeated fishing bans, rising prices of essentials and fuel, and frequent natural disasters are making the profession increasingly difficult.

During a recent visit, several fishermen said fishing alone was no longer enough to provide three meals a day. Many are now looking for alternative sources of income.

Babul Majhi, a fisherman from Char Kukri, said he had been in the profession for 40 years.

“When fuel was cheaper, we could make a decent profit. Now fuel prices are so high that taking a trawler to sea has become difficult. Fishing can no longer support my family, so I have to do other work,” he said.

Fisherman Forkan Mia said the prices of almost everything had increased, including rice, lentils, fuel and ice.

“The fishing season lasts about five months, but around two and a half months are lost to fishing bans. During much of the remaining period, we face storms and bad weather. There is no way to run a family solely by fishing anymore,” he said.

Fishermen Anwar of the Tentulia riverbank and Norullah Mia of Samraj said hilsa catches in the sea had declined.

“Sometimes we get a good catch, but the fishing spots that once reliably produced fish are no longer productive. Storms, tidal surges and other hazards add to our problems. The profession now brings more losses than profits,” Norullah said.

Char Fasson Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Joyanta Kumar Opu said fish production had declined due to climate change, pollution, natural disasters and various human activities.

“Changes in climate and other factors are altering the feeding and breeding grounds of fish in rivers and the sea. Fishing pressure has also increased as fish production has not grown in proportion to the number of fishermen over the past few decades,” he said.

He said the fisheries department was implementing various projects to help fishermen improve their financial condition while continuing the profession.

There are 43,300 registered fishermen in the four police stations of Char Fasson, according to the fisheries office. Of them, around 25,000 have received fishermen's cards.

During the hilsa breeding-season fishing ban, 35,386 poor fishermen receive rice assistance. Under the Hilsa Resources Development and Management Project in the 2023-24 fiscal year, 2,000 fishermen were also given heifers to help create alternative sources of income.