Fishing has resumed in Kaptai Lake after a three-and-a-half-month ban, bringing fishermen, traders and transport workers back to the lake and its busy landing centres.
The ban on fishing, fish transportation and marketing ended at midnight on Monday. From early Tuesday, motorised boats began arriving at the Kaptai fish landing centre with catches from different parts of the lake, including Bagaichhari, Langadu, Barkal and Bilaichhari.
The first boats reached the centre around 6:30am, carrying drums filled with kachki, chapila, tengra, ayir, baim, bacha, kaligunia and pabda.
The landing centre quickly became busy as fishermen unloaded their catches and traders prepared the fish for shipment. After paying the required duties, traders packed the fish in ice and loaded them onto trucks bound for Chattogram, Dhaka and northern districts.
A total of 28,866kg of fish were landed at the Kaptai centre between 6:30am and 1pm on Tuesday, said Jasim Uddin, head of the Kaptai Fisheries Development Sub-centre. The government collected Tk6.20 lakh in revenue from the day's catch.
At Rangamati Fisheries Ghat, traders said the first day's catch was dominated by smaller fish.
Md Shahjahan said adverse weather on Monday had prevented many fishermen from casting their nets, making it too early to assess the season's overall catch.
“Fish are generally smaller at the beginning of the season. Larger fish are usually caught later,” he said.
Commander Mohammad Foyez Al Karim, manager of the Kaptai Lake Fisheries Development and Marketing Centre, said a substantial quantity of fish had reached the landing centre by noon.
He said traders might be concerned about the relatively small size of chapila but expected the fish to grow larger within the next 10 to 15 days.
Foyez said the fish production target for the 2025-26 fiscal year was 8,500 tonnes, but actual production reached 10,000 tonnes, generating Tk22.60 crore in revenue.
The district administration initially imposed this year's fishing ban from April 25 to July 31 to allow fish to breed and replenish stocks. The ban was later extended by 10 days until midnight on August 10.
The reopening has brought relief to thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on the lake, while traders, transport workers and others are expecting increased economic activity.
Kaptai Lake, Bangladesh's largest artificial reservoir, is a major source of fish and hydropower and an important water transport and tourism route. Its resources are closely linked to the economy and livelihoods of people across Rangamati.
