Bangladesh’s national fish Ilish, thought to be found only in southern rivers of the country and the Bay of Bengal, was caught from the Surma River on Sunday to the surprise of many.
But it is not the presence of the fish in the river that was surprising, it is fish’s size. Fishermen caught six Ilishes in the afternoon and one of them weighed more than 2kg.
“We haven’t caught Ilish of this size before from Surma,” said Hamid Uddin, the fisherman.
Dwijraj Barman, Sylhet Sadar upazila fisheries officer, said the Ilish caught in Surma is not the kind generally found in sea but it is of a local species.
Ilish had previously been caught in Chengerkhal River in the district. In the last monsoon, fishermen in Hakaluki haor caught plenty of Ilish. The fish is sometimes netted by fishermen in the Surma River too.
The government imposed a 22-day ban on catching, selling, storing and transporting Ilish from on October 9 to 31 to ensure safe spawning of the national fish during its peak breeding period.
