By Md Aynal Haque

RAJSHAHI, July 12, 2026 (BSS) – Rajshahi division has emerged as one of Bangladesh’s leading freshwater fish-producing regions, with a remarkable expansion in carp farming including Ruhi and Katla driving annual production beyond 5.5 lakh metric tons across its eight districts.     

Since it is profitable, farmers’ interest is also increasing in fish farming. After meeting the demand of Rajshahi Division, this fish is sent daily to the capital and other regions across the country. This results in daily sales of more than Taka 20 crore worth of fish.

The number of ponds in Rajshahi has also increased over the past few years. Faced with losses in crops, farmers are being forced to excavate ponds and take up fish farming. And they are seeing profits in fish farming.

Since fish farming is relatively more profitable than other crops, many are turning to this profession.

The Department of Fisheries, Rajshahi Divisional Office reported that there are a total of 449,653 ponds in the eight districts of the division. There are 165,706 fish farmers.

Annually, 596,467 metric tons of fish are produced. Of this, after meeting local demand, 150,000 metric tons of fish are sent to different parts of the country.

Along with creating employment opportunities for nearly 300,000 people, fish are also being exported abroad.

Fisheries Department officials said the process of sending fresh fish from this district began 24 years ago.

Fresh fish is sent daily to at least 25 districts, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Barishal, Sylhet, and Mymensingh.

As a result, people outside Rajshahi can eat formalin-free fish. Consequently, the demand for fish from this district is rising.

Sources added that every day, from evening to late night, more than 500 trucks of fresh fish go to different parts of the country.

Each truck carries at least 700 to 800 kg of fish. Accordingly, more than Taka 20 crore worth of fresh fish is sold daily.

Gulam Saklain of Durgapur Upazila in Rajshahi started fish farming in 1994 on a pond of just two bighas of land in his area while studying Chemistry (Honours) at Rajshahi University.

He started with a capital of Taka 7,000 and made a profit of Taka 6,000 in his first attempt. He never had to look back after that.

Currently, he leases ponds covering 1,000 bighas for fish farming, creating employment for 152 people.

He said, “I chose fish farming along with agriculture as my profession. I decided to farm fish while studying at university. But at that time, no one in my family wanted me to enter this profession. Since then, I have been farming fish to this day. Now my pond area is about 1,000 bighas. From here, about 20 trucks take fish to the capital every day.”

Among the Rajshahi Division, which ranks top in the country for freshwater carp production, Natore and Naogaon have the highest fish production and sales.

However, in the ponds of these regions, various types of fish are farmed, including Rohu, Katla, Mrigal, Silver Carp, Pabda, Tangra, and Shing.
These fish are harvested from ponds and supplied alive to the capital and other parts of the country through special preservation methods.

Idris Ali, another fish farmer from Durgapur Upazila, said more than 50 trucks of fish go to Dhaka from this upazila. But currently, the price of fish has dropped somewhat. The price of feed has increased, but the price of fish has not increased accordingly. This is reducing profits.

Besides, he said: “we have to pay an extra 3,000–4,000 taka in truck fares to take fish to Dhaka. No financial assistance is available from the Department of Fisheries. However, they organize various kinds of advice and seminars. That is beneficial.”

Within Rajshahi District, the most fish farming occurs in Paba Upazila. Upon entering Parila Union, you see pond after pond. Fish are being caught there.

A little further on, they are loaded onto small and large trucks filled with water parked on the road. From Parila village alone, about 50 trucks of fresh fish go daily to Dhaka and other district towns. And from all of Rajshahi, more than 200 trucks of fresh fish depart.

Mosharraf Hossain of Parila village has been sending fish to Dhaka and other districts for 14 years. He has ponds on about 22 bighas of land.
He said, “At one time, we had to sell fish only in Rajshahi. We didn’t get good prices. Later, we started taking fish to Dhaka and other districts by truck.”

At that time, one or two people had to be kept on the truck. They would splash the water with their feet the whole way. But now water is supplied using a shallow machine. That machine runs the whole way. As a result, the fish travel as if they are still in a pond.

“We also get good prices.” That day, he took 1,200 kg of fish in one truck to Dhaka’s New Market. The fish sold for Taka 300,000 that day.

Saifuddin Yahia, Director of the Rajshahi Divisional Fisheries Department, said earlier, mixed fish farming was done only in Rajshahi.

Now it is happening in other districts of the division too. If the main fish in a pond is Rohu, then Silver Carp, Katla, and native small fish are also farmed.

This maintains balance in the pond. Along with sending large fish from this district, native Pabda, Shing, Koi, and Magur are also farmed. They have essentially created a large market outside Rajshahi. In addition, pabda fish is regularly exported to India.

He added that the farmers here follow proper practices for fish farming. They provide fish farming training to more than 1,500 people every year. Besides, they regularly conduct programs like fish exhibitions for farmers.