The famed hilsa now gets official recognition

KOLKATA: West Bengal’s incorrigible obsession with the hilsa fish has at last acquired a license. The marine fish, a cousin of the herring, has been named the ‘official state fish of West Bengal’.

The recognition was conferred by the Indian Council of Agriculture (ICA), said Kiranmoy Nanda, minister-in-charge of fisheries, aqua culture and fishing harbours in the state.

The minister said his department had appealed to ICA some time back seeking recognition of hilsa as the “state fish.” Last week, the ICA agreed to fulfill the request, to the relief of Bengalis, for whom hilsa preparations are an everyday affair.

Found in the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the eastern rivers of India, this marine species is currently under threat, which was affirmed by the minister. Recently, the state government banned catching, stocking and selling of baby hilsas.

“There is a necessity to conserve hilsa, since it is available only during a select period of the year. On an average, we get a catch weighing a little over 20,000 metric tones every year. This produce is negligible considering the massive demand for the fish.

The department is currently working on a long-term plan to ensure the fish’s conservation, especially of those which weigh less than 500 grams,” the minister said.

Explaining the main reason of hilsa’s threatened existence, the former associate scientist of anthropological survey of India, Bikash Roy Chowdhury, said excessive pollution in the Bengal rivers make it difficult for the hilsa to survive as it requires high levels of oxygen

“High level pollutants and heavy silting at Ganges have lowered the oxygen level to a great extent in the area,” he said.

Joint director, department of fisheries, Madhumita Mukherjee also pointed out that excessive habitation along the coasts have also resulted in a sewage impact on the fish there.