Hilsa production has increased by more than two and a half fold in the last 15 years due to various efforts of the government including imposing ban on catching brood hilsa and jatka (hilsa fry), State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru informed parliament yesterday.

In 2017-18, hilsa production stood at 5.17 lakh tonnes, up from 1.99 lakh tonnes in 2002-03, the state minister said while answering a query from ruling party lawmaker Abdul Latif.

Khasru said market price of total 5.17 lakh tonnes hilsa will be around Tk 20,000 crore if price of one kilogramme hilsa was Tk 400.

The question-answer session was tabled at onset of the day’s proceedings.

The state minister said Bangladesh’s hilsa management policy has become a model, and India and Myanmar are following it. He hoped that the total production of hilsa will cross 5.5 lakh tonnes in the next five years.

While answering another question from lawmaker Manjur Hossain, Khasru said 38,571 tonnes of dried fish was produced in 2017-18 fiscal, of which 75 percent was sea fish. In that year, Bangladesh exported 3,357 tonnes of dried fish and earned Tk 69 crore, he informed.

He said per capita milk, meat and egg consumptions increased since 2008-09 financial year, in reply to a query from treasury bench MP Samil Uddin Ahmed Shimul.

Khasru said availability of per capita milk per day was 158.19 millilitres in 2017-18 fiscal, up from 43.35 millilitres in 2008-09.

Availability of per capita meat per day was 122 grammes in 2017-18 fiscal, an increase from 20 grammes in 2008-09. Also, availability of per capita egg per year was 95 in 2017-18 fiscal, which was 32 in 2008-2009, he added.