Cage fish farming gaining popularity

Kabir Chowdhury, who hails from Dotto Pungoli village in Pabna's Faridpur upazila, became unemployed about 10 years ago after suffering huge losses in his cattle feed business.

However, he has since found a new lease on life through cage fish farming, which is a type of aquaculture where fish are grown in floating net pens made of wood, bamboo or metal in natural water bodies.

Chowdhury and his friend Md Abdur Razzak Nayan spent about Tk 20,000 to begin cage fish farming in the Boral river near their residence a few years ago. Now, the pair earn about Tk 8-9 lakh annually.

A row of pens are seen floating in Boral River in Pabna’s Faridpur upazila, where a new form of aquaculture called cage fish farming is catching on quick among locals due to its high profitability. The photo was taken recently. Photo: Ahmed Humayun Kabir Topu

"I came to know about cage fish farming through the internet," he said.

Having piqued his interest, Chowdhury went to Chandpur to get more on-hand knowledge about this form of aquaculture.

He eventually began farming fish in the Boral river with 10 pens made of bamboo in 2013. That year, Chowdhury and Nayan sold fishes worth about Tk 35,000 to get a profit of Tk 15,000.

"This inspired us to forge ahead," he said.

They kept expanding cultivation each year and now, the pair have a total of 65 cages in the river.

"Last year, we sold fish worth Tk 80 lakh to earn Tk 8 lakh profit and this year, we expect to sell fish worth Tk 85 lakh to earn a profit of Tk 9-10 lakh," Chowdhury said, adding that his success encouraged many unemployed locals to start cage fish farming.

Nayan told The Daily Star it costs about Tk 10,000 to set up a pen measuring 20 feet long and 10 feet wide made of iron rods and traditional nets.

Each cage produces about 40 maunds (one maund equals about 37 kilogrammes) of fish thrice a year.

"We cultivate 900 to 1,000 fish fry in each pen to get yields of 12 to 14 maunds," Nayan said.

As the fish get proper nourishment in the flowing river, they grow rapidly and are comparatively tastier than their artificially grown counterparts, according to Robindranath Haldar, another cage fish farmer.

Haldar, who hails from a village in the Narayanpur area of Faridpur upazila, set up 30 cages in the Boral river this year and expects to make a profit of Tk 4-5 lakh.

Md Abul Kalam Azad, the district fishery officer, said cage fish farming has been gaining popularity over the past eight to 10 years thanks to its high returns.

As such, various fishermen in Pabna's Faridpur, Sujanagar and Ishwardi upazilas have set up cage fish farms along the Boral and Padma rivers.

There are now more than 500 cages in both rivers with a majority being in the Boral river. The farmers expect to collectively produce 200 tonnes of fish this season.

"Tilapia is the most highly cultivated breed of fish in the district but the Pabda and Tengra varieties are also being farmed in small cages in both rivers," Azad said, adding that the fisheries department has taken various measures to help these farmers increase production.