‘No’ commercial hilsa farming

Scientists have confirmed that it is not feasible to commercially farm hilsa – the national fish of Bangladesh – in fishponds.    After three years of experimental hilsa farming, scientists say the taste and size of the fish grown in ponds is not similar to that of naturally grown ones. Their average lifespan is also much shorter.    Speaking to this correspondent, officials at the Chandpur Fisheries Research Institute River Centre, which carried out the trial hilsa farming, discussed their research findings, including unmatched features of the two varieties of the fish.     They said the institute had undertaken a project about three years ago to test the feasibility of farming hilsa commercially. Hilsa is a deep-sea fish that lays its eggs in rivers.    The centre started farming in three of its ponds in July 2010.   The Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas visited the project venues on April 4, 2011. It was believed then that commercial hilsa farming “would not be a distant possibility.”    Three years later, scientists have had to revise their assessment.    Muhammad Zaher, director of the project, said hilsa (locally known ilish) is a fish of the deep-sea and large rivers. They breed in rivers where there are tides and then swim back to the sea, if not caught by fishermen.     “We conducted the research to see if it is possible to grow hilsa commercially in ponds. What we found is that the size of a jatka increases in the first year and then growth stops,” said the director.   Dr Anisur Rahman, an ichthyologist who has been involved with the project, said: “These fishes haven’t grown beyond 32cm in three years. But they would have been larger if grown in rivers.”   “Though hilsa can live and lay eggs in ponds, it is not possible do breeding with these eggs in ponds,” he said.    Growing hilsa artificially can be very costly, sources say. A small-size hilsa, grown with artificial feed, would sell at Tk3000-4000, which would be beyond the purchasing capacity of most consumers.    In addition, artificially grown hilsa would live shorter than those in the deep-sea would.