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About 20,000 people (fishermen and laborers) have been
employed in making dried fish in coastal Barguna.
Asharchar, Nidra, Sonakata, Jayalbhanga of Taltali Upazila
of the district, Baliyatali of Barguna Sadar, Haringhata of Patharghata
Upazila, Laldia are now full of dried fish season. Generally, the processing of
dried fish takes place for five months from November to March in dried fish
farms. Workers are working day and night in this work.
Local traders said that every week, 100 to 150 maunds of
fish are exported to different parts of the country from each Shuntkimach
village.
Shuntkimach workers said that after bringing raw fish from the river to the Shuntkimach village, the women workers clean them. Then the fish are washed in clean water and dried in the loft. After three to four days in the sun, the fishes become hard.
About 25 species of fish are dried here. Among these are
Rupchanda, Khita, Koral, Surma, Laitta, and Poa. Also, there is a lot of demand
for different types of fish including shrimp, vole, and fat. This dry fodder is
sent to different places in the country including Chittagong, Syedpur, Khulna, and Jamalpur. Due to the fact that no pesticides or extra salt are added during
preparation, the demand for dried fish in this area is a bit high. Besides,
dried fish powder from here is supplied to poultry farms and fish feed all over
the country.
Traders said that currently dried knife fish is selling at
Tk 700-800 per kg, Rupchanda at Tk 1000 to Tk 1500, Maitya at Tk 800 to Tk
1000, Laitya at Tk 600 to Tk 700, Prawn at Tk 700 to Tk 900 and other small
fish at Tk 300 to Tk 550.
Dried fish traders demand that the government should take
the initiative to export these dried fish abroad. Because there is no official
system to export dried fish from the country.
In this regard Taltali Upazila fisheries officer Md.
Mahbubul Alam said that a recommendation will be sent to the Department of
Fisheries for the export of dry fish.
Barguna District Fisheries Officer Biswajit Kumar Dev said
that hundreds of thousands of people have been employed in various ways in dry
fish farming in Barguna. About 20,000 fishermen and more than 1,000 laborers
are working tirelessly in the rivers and seas. The lives of thousands of
people, including businessmen, are involved in this drought. All measures will
be taken so that fishermen and traders can do business smoothly.
Source:
Online/SZK
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