Ornamental fish now being farmed in Jashore hatcheries

Ornamental fish are in high demand and many people enjoy keeping fish as pets in aquariums. As such they are now being cultivated in fish farms of Jashore district.

Since the profit margin is good, commercial farming of ornamental fish is gaining traction in Jashore.

Salman Sardar, a young entrepreneur from Narangali village in Panisara union of Jhikargacha upazila of Jashore is now farming various kinds of ornamental for commercial purposes.

He bought 60 pieces of ornamental fish in 2017 from an aquarium shop in Khulna town for Tk 2,000 only.

Back then, he did not know the names of the fish he bought but later got to know they were called "goldfish" or comet species of fish.

Salman currently has 52 species of ornamental fish in his farm such as Arenda, Redcap, Blackmore, Ruikin, Lychee, three species of comets namely Calico, Common Comet and Three-Tailed Comet, seven species of Guppy, the Molly, the Shortbell, the Platy, Japanese Kaikarp, Thai Milky, Milky Butterfly, among others.

His initial investment in the farm was Tk 1, 500.  Now, the farm has around 30,000 parent fish, and more than 10 lakh pollen and three lakh rice fish.

Currently, he has 23 ponds in and around his village and two more are being dug. He targets to have 30 ponds this year. His farm has 25 employees and most of them are college students. 

Salman Sardar said he started extensively marketing his product in 2019 and people from different places of the country came to buy his fish and learn farming methods from him. To date, he has trained at least 10 entrepreneurs in his village to take up ornamental fish farming.

"The rice fish (2 inches) has a high demand in the market. Buyers carry these fish from the farm in oxygen-rich bags, said Abul Hossain," a fish entrepreneur.

"Each goldfish is sold between TK 20 and TK 200 per piece. Comet is sold at TK 10, Guppy Molly, Short Bell and others at TK 10 per piece. I make a profit of Tk 1 lakh every month after deducting all expenses," said Salman.

Apart from fish farming, Salman has a non-profit organisation called "Swapnil Paribar Foundation" which takes care of disabled people in the area.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, he provided food, face masks, hand sanitisers and other necessary items to local people through this organisation.

The young entrepreneur said these services are mainly done from the income of his farm.

He announced that if any disabled person wants to take up fish farming, he will train them free of cost.

"I have visited Salman's ornamental fish farm. If Salman wants, we will help him get funds from a World Bank project," said Ripon Kumar Ghosh, senior fisheries officer of Jhikargacha.