Bagerhat farmer dreams big with colourful fish farming

Fish farmer Hafizur Rahman of Bagerhat Sadar upazila has found success in producing colourful tilapia and Ruposhi Rui at his fish farm.

High demand in the area has produced sales of around 50 thousand pieces of the two fish varieties over the last couple of years.

Hafizur's 17-year-old fish farm 'Naim Fish Farm' -- situated on two acres of land in Sundarghona-Kanthaltala village -- has earned a good reputation among fish farmers in nearby districts -- including Bagerhat, Pirojpur and Khulna -- for producing quality larvae of popular fish species such as Koi, Shing, Magur, Gulisha, Pabda and Vietnamese pangas.

Gaining confidence from his experience at the farm, Hafizur collected larvae of colourful tilapia and Ruposhi Rui from fisheries department at Mymensingh Agricultural University two years back. Within a year, he succeeded in rearing the two fish at his farm.

The two colourful fish can be profitable for a fish farm as they sell well in all stages and sizes. People buy the smaller ones for displaying them in aquariums or fish tanks, while the larger ones for consumption, Hafizur said.   

Both the fish grow as much as one kilogram every year and not only they look more attractive than the regular varieties, they taste better too, he also said. 

The colourful tilapia even spawns in the pond and the offspring grow well naturally in the pond.

On the other hand, Ruposhi Rui, with its origin in Australia and a bright golden outer coat, grows well with other fish in the same pond. Its demand as aquarium fish indoors or decorative fish in large fish tanks outdoors is high and each kg of it sells for between Tk 300 and Tk 500, Hafizur also said.

He hopes to increase production of the colourful tilapia and Ruposhi Rui by next year when he will be able to sell each small fry of colourful tilapia for Tk 3 and Ruposhi Rui for Tk 10.

If supply of quality fish feed is ensured in the area and financial support provided to farmers, there is a good prospect in earning revenues from  overseas through export of the two fish varieties after meeting local demands, Hafizur added.   

Contacted, Ferdous Ansari, senior upazila fisheries officer in Bagerhat Sadar, said while they mostly concentrate on providing assistance to conventional fish farmers, they were also trying to develop a market system where unconventional fish farms would be able to eliminate intermediaries and sell their fish to end customers.