A huge tabal fish weighing 54kg caught in the Bay of Bengal

A huge tabal fish weighing 54kg iscaught in the Bay of Bengal

Kalapara (Patuakhali): A tabal fish weighing 54 kg was caught in a fishing net in the Bay of Bengal adjacent to Kuakataঞ্জ in Patuakhali. A crowd of eager people gathered when the fish was brought to the Mahipur Fisheries Port on Tuesday (August 4) morning. The fish was bought by local fish trader Rubel Gharami for 36,000 taka in the open market through mail.

According to fishermen, the fish was caught in a fishing trawler named FB Salma Karim. Later, businessman Rubel Gharami bought the fish for about 36,000 taka through the Ankhi Fish and Tahura Fish organizations at the Mahipur Fisheries Port. This makes the price of the fish about 666 taka per kg.

Tabal fish is locally known as Trevally fish. In the Kuakata region, it is also known as Tabli, Baga or Khandia. The fish is delicious, rich in protein and has relatively few spines, so it is in demand among consumers.

Fishermen said that although this species of fish is found in the deep sea of the Bay of Bengal, such a large Tabli fish is not often caught. Therefore, after the fish is brought to the port, there is great interest among the locals to see it.

Research assistant of the 'Healthy Sea' project implemented in collaboration with WCS and WorldFish, funded by the Blue Action Fund, Md. Bakhtiar Rahman said that Tabli fish is an important marine fish of the Carangidae family. The large size of this species is also a positive aspect for the marine biodiversity of the Bay of Bengal.

Kalapara Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Apu Saha said in this regard that the fish caught in the fishing net is a valuable marine fish of the Carangidae family. This fish grows very large in size and has economic importance. If more such fish are caught in the future, fishermen will benefit economically. - Gofran Palash