Try GOLD - Free
HOMELESS HILSA
Down To Earth
|May 16, 2023
The ocean fish that swims against the tide to spawn in rivers is moving away from Bangladesh
АT CHANDPUR, about 150 km south of Dhaka, Anisur Rahman has a scientific explanation for the predicament of fisher people involved in hilsa trade in Bangladesh. Currently senior scientific officer at Bangladesh's Fish Research Institute, Rahman explained, "In scientific parlance, the hilsa is an anadromous fish. It lives most of its lives in the sea but around the monsoon, when it is time to spawn, the hilsa swims against the tide and goes back to the river where its mother had given birth to it." He added that the most delectable ones are those that go the farthest upriver. "But there is barely any hilsa left in the rivers," Rahman said echoing the fishers of Barisal.
This story is from the May 16, 2023 edition of Down To Earth.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Down To Earth
Down To Earth
Popular distrust
THE WORLD seems to be going through a period of stasis despite facing an unfathomable polycrisis.
2 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
CONSERVE OR PERISH
Periyar Tiger Reserve has rewritten Indian conservation by turning poachers into protectors and conflict into coexistence
5 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
'Rivers need to run free'
From Tibet to West Bengal, the Brahmaputra is the pulse of communities and ecosystems along its course. But what are the risks the river faces through human interventions, particularly dams, discusses journalist, author and filmmaker SANJOY HAZARIKA in his new book, River Traveller.
4 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
India is facing up to its innovation lag
There are signs now that India is acknowledging the superior strides made by China in a frontier technology like Al
4 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
Competing concerns
What are the repercussions of the EU-Mercosur pact that have made European farmers protest against the free trade agreement?
4 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
From fryer to flight
Sustainable fuel made from used cooking oil can play a pivotal role in helping India achieve its aviation emission reduction goals. Measures to collect this oil must be revamped
4 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
ACCESS OPEN
An amendment to India's nodal forest conservation law opens up forests across India to commercial exploitation by the paper industry
6 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
DRINK FROM TAP CAN BE A REALITY
As cities across India struggle to supply safe piped water, Odisha offers a success story
2 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
GREAT DRYING
The Earth is hotter than at any point in the past 100,000 years, with 2023-25 becoming the warmest three-year period on record and also breaching the 1.5°C threshold for the first time. One fallout is dwindling freshwater.
22 mins
February 01, 2026
Down To Earth
Green redemption
Restoration of grasslands of Kerala's Pampadum Shola National Park, once dominated by invasive Australian wattles, see a return of streams and native species
1 mins
February 01, 2026
Translate
Change font size