The delicious hilsa (ilishi) fish is now rare in the markets of Jajpur district due to rampant catches of baby and mother fishes by the fishermen. The population of the migratory fish is decimating year by year for which the cost of hilsa has skyrocketed.
A few years back, during rainy season, Jajpur and its nearby fish markets were flooded with basketful of silvery hilsas, but now that is a rare sight. Even if hilsas are detected, most of them are very small in size.
“One of the main reasons for the decaying of the hilsa population is due to the abundant use of mosquito-gill nets by the fishermen. By using the mosquito net even the small in size hilsas get killed.
Hilsas’ disappearance has major financial implications for the fishermen. There has been a 60 per cent decline in the hilsa catch from the rivers of the district.
Even the population of hilsa has either become extinct or its number has fallen steeply in the rivers such as Govari, Kani, Kharosotra, Birupa and Bramahani. Even in the sea, the population of the delectable fish is dwindling,” said district fishery officer AK Das. Hilsa’s peculiar habitat makes it impossible to breed it artificially through aquaculture, unlike other fishes. The adult hilsa swims several km upstream in freshwater from the sea for spawning and then returns to saline water. The eggs hatch in freshwater and the sub-adult hilsa flows back downstream into the sea, a process that takes a few months.
The migratory routes that the hilsas are now taking in its annual sojourn are full of danger with dams, bridges and sluice gates preventing their smooth migration. Hilsa always prefers to swim against the tidal movement during the breeding season. But the dams on the main river and its tributaries become a hindrance on the path of hilsas, said the district fishery officer.
Industrial pollutants have also increasingly poisoned hilsa’s habitat. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides have added poison through agricultural runoff to the rivers of Mahanadi and its tributaries, said fishery department sources.
The fresh water flows through the river Mahanadi and its tributaries have also decreased and degraded to increase the salinity of the brackish water of the estuarine delta.
Several barrages on the river Mahanadi and its tributaries have been an impediment for the smooth journey of the hilsas. One kg of hilsa now costs about Rs 400 in the market for which the fish lovers prefer to turn their back because of the affordability factor.
The State Government had imposed a ban on fishing during the breeding season from May 15 to July 1 to protect the baby fishes and the gravid fishes.
But the fishermen did not pay any heed to the order of the Government, as a result of which millions of baby fishes and mother fishes were killed leading to a heavy slash in the population of hilsa, said the fishery official.