Fortune has favoured the fishermen of the greater Faridpur region as fish production from natural sources there has increased vastly due to the establishment of 201 fish reserve spots by the government.
Sources said the state established the spots under a project at a cost of Tk10 crore.
There are 51 spots in Gopalganj, 64 in Madaripur, 44 in Faridpur, 26 in Shariatpur and 16 in Rajbari, and domestic fish species have been flourishing in all these spots.
Gopalganj Sadar fishery official Babul Krisna Oja said fish haven is made by placing bamboo and bush in a lake and fishing is restricted to 1,000 square feet centring the spot, so that mother fishes can breed and the fry stay there without any hindrance.
With the advent of the rainy season, the species finally spread out to the haors, canals and rivers as well as other water bodies.
Fish production has been increasing gradually in the region and the local fishermen have been benefiting vastly from it, Babul continued.
A fisherman named Sanjoy Biswas from Baladanga village of Tungipara said several fish species had almost become extinct before the spots were established.
Affluent fish stock in the districts has brought smiles to the fishermen’s faces, Sanjoy added.
Borhan Sheikh, president of Tungipara fish haven managing committee, said the safe fish spots have contributed to fish production and have allowed for the demands of about 21 districts to be met easily.
Dr Abdul Quadir, director of fisheries development project for greater Faridpur, said since 2009, the government has developed a total of 201 fish havens in five districts at a cost of Tk10 crore, and has thereby benefited 50,000 local fishermen.
About Tk500 crore worth of fish has been produced in the safe spots, the director continued.
The project’s assistant director Narayan Chandra Das said there were no natural safe havens for fish in the region before and that was why those were established, so that mother fish could easily breed there.
Narayan also stated that because of the project, fish production from natural resources in the region has improved remarkably and the fish species that were on the verge of extinction have been also preserved.