Mola fish, a small fish widely available in Bangladesh has gained global popularity for its nutritional values. Research found that these small fishes are large pockets of nutrients that serve as a good source of food.
A study by Shakuntala Thilsted, the Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, on the locally-found, low-cost fishes, found that it provides multiple high levels of nutrients and fatty acids, which are capable of playing a unique role in developing the brain.
Last year, Shakuntala Thilsted won the World Food Prize 2021, often known as the 'Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture' for her research on mola fish.
The award was conferred to her for her contribution to improving the quality of food, amount and availability of the food source as well as making it popular in various parts of the world.
Her technology and concepts spread to many countries including India, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia, Zambia and Malawi.
Her research covered how these nutrient-rich small fish can be raised locally and inexpensively and make for a good source of food for low-income families.
Thilsted and her team first examined the nutritional quality of the native small fish in Bangladesh.
She joined hands with eminent fish researcher Abdul Wahab Mia, the former dean of Faculty of Fisheries at Bangladesh Agricultural University for her research where they collected data over six years.
Thilsted was the first to examine the nutritional composition of small native fish species commonly found and consumed in Bangladesh and Cambodia.
Her research demonstrated that the high levels of multiple essential micronutrients and fatty acids in these affordable and locally available foods have life-changing benefits for the cognitive development of children in the first 1,000 days of their life and in the nutrition and health of their mothers.
Her team also figured out how these nutritious small fishes can be cultivated locally and in the same pond as large fishes.
The study shows that these small fishes do not compete with big fishes for food and Thilsted’s technology ensures that their numbers increase when they grow with large fishes.
Thilsted and her team undertook various initiatives to create public awareness with much success and the fish is now being cultivated in the country.
Nurul Haque, a fisherman in Mymensingh, recently received a gold medal at the national level by producing the molecules of the mola fish in a hatchery.
As part of her technology, nets similar to mosquito nets were developed to cultivate mola in a pond. The net ensures that the families can use fishi daily.
In 2012, WorldFish started working to expand the cultivation of mola fish in five districts of Barisal Division.
Since 2015, the organization has been encouraging people to increase consumption of the small fish. Now, districts such as Nilphamari, Bogra and Mymensingh in the north are also cultivating mola fish.
AHM Kohinoor, chief scientific officer of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, did his first PhD on the nutritional value of mola fish.
According to him, it is such a nutritious fish that if one or two of these fishes are consumed daily, no extra vitamins need to be taken.
