Tk5.6cr fish die at Benapole farm amid oxygen shortage

Fish worth around Tk5.6 crore died at a fish enclosure in Benapole’s Sonamukho Beel area of Jashore after a prolonged power outage allegedly disrupted the oxygen-supply system.
The fish began dying early Sunday at the Sajan fish enclosure in Raipur-Sonamukho Beel under Bahadurpur union and by morning, large quantities of pabda and other fish were dead, said farm owners Al Fazul Haque and Faruk Hossain.
They said frequent power outages had disrupted the operation of electrically powered aerators, while adverse weather further reduced oxygen levels in the water.
Mofizur Rahman Sajan, owner of the enclosure, said about 150 bighas had been leased to fish farmers, who were cultivating around 60 lakh pabda fish.
The fish were ready for sale, with some destined for export to India, he said. Al Fazul Haque said “We have suffered overall losses of around Tk15.5 crore. I do not know how we will repay the loans or recover from this setback,” he said.
Faruk Hossain said electricity went out around 2am, causing the oxygen-supply system to stop working.
“Before morning, huge quantities of pabda fish had died and later started to rot,” he said, adding that around 100 families directly and indirectly depend on the farm.
However, District Fisheries Officer Monirul Mamun disputed the farmers’ claim that the fish died directly because of the power outage. He said electricity was unavailable for about 40 minutes that day and that the farmers should have used generators to operate aerators and maintain oxygen levels.
He added that affected farmers could receive compensation if they had fishery insurance. A three-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident and has been asked to submit its report within three days, he said.