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Bengal frets over great hilsa famine

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA, JUNE 30. The hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) is a traditional favourite of the fish-loving Bengali, and any shortage of the variety in the market is indeed sad news around here. According to experts, the current year will most likely see a shortage.

Such a prospect has already led to a dampening of culinary spirits all round.

The most important reason for this is the weather. There is not enough rain in the upper reaches of rivers such as the Ganga. This has led to a paucity of what is considered "sweet water'' at the points where the rivers join the sea. Consequently, fewer hilsa leave the salty sea water to lay their eggs in the sweet-water zones.

The hilsa thrives on nor'westers and heavy rain, and these have been absent during the past three years.

Another reason for the impending Bengal hilsa famine is the indiscriminate catching of fishlings at the river-mouths. The main culprits here are the trawlers, which do not have nets that will leave the fishlings alone. The West Bengal Minister for Fisheries, Kiranmoy Nanada, says that the State prevents such trawlers from setting out to sea, but that vessels do so from neighbouring Orissa. Naturally, he has no control over that.

Experts say that it takes around four years for a hilsa fish to attain a weight of a kilogram. Catching hilsa fishlings in large numbers now would mean that in the next two to three years further shortages of the fish will occur.

In the rivers, the availability of plankton, which constitutes the main item of food for the hilsa, is declining owing to pollution.

This is also affecting the breeding rate of the fish. One result is that the fish are returning to the sea in large numbers from rivers including the Hooghly and the Rupnarayan.

According to one expert, as in the matter of wildlife protection, laws should be enacted to protect fish if shortages of delicacies such as the hilsa are to be avoided in the years ahead.

Such laws have been promulgated in Bangladesh. In that country, the making of nets that will allow fish less than nine inches long to be caught is not allowed.

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