More Hilsa on your plate: scientists succeed in growing Bengalis’ favourite ilish in fresh water

Hilsa may be the Bengalis’ favourite, but the expensive fish is beyond the reach of most people these days. The success of a new research has now created the possibility for hilsa to be more abundantly available, and naturally, make the price lower than what it is now.

Not in salty water, hilsa is now being produced in fresh water alongside other fresh water fish like rohu, katla and other breeds by the scientists of Central government run Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) in Bengal. And the taste of this freshwater ilish will be just as good as the “original”.

The main impediment to growing hilsa in the fresh water tanks had been its food. Hilsas do not eat what other breeds of fish do, and thus most of the fish cultivated in the tanks were dying so far. But scientists have now come up with the right food that this breed is now consuming and growing at a good rate.

The fact that hilsas are rapidly growing in the tanks of Kalyani of Nadia district and Rahara of North 24 Parganas district, has stirred new hope in the CIFA scientists. There is a possibility of large-scale production of this breed in tanks and that will take care of the scarcity of the fish that sends its price soaring in the market.

The weight of the average fish cultivated in the tanks is between 100 and 125 grams. However, fish weighing up to 550 grams have been successfully produced in hatcheries as well. The experiment has been on since 2012. Initially, the breeding and growth of the fish was being done in aquarium but now it has been successfully shifted to hatcheries. In the absence of the right kind of feed, the fish could not survive earlier. But now, a “formulated feed” has been worked out and this is helping the fish grow.

Principal scientist of CIFA’s Rahara unit, Debnarayan Chattopadhyay, has attributed the success in cultivating hilsa in fresh water to the scientists coming up with the right feed for the fish. He said that scientist Baidyanath Pal of their centre was the man behind preparing the right feed for hilsa.

In the tank and hatchery of fisherman, Shyamacharan Chattopadhyay of Hoogly’s Mograhat, the hilsas are now being successfully bred. Once the fish successfully grows into the size right for consumption, large-scale cultivation may be possible.

And then who knows, the craving for hilsa from River Padma and the lamentation of not getting enough Ganga-bred hilsas in the market may be a thing of the past?