Hilsa production in Bangladesh has declined by nearly 26 percent over the past five fiscal years, falling from 566,593 tonnes in FY22 to an estimated 419,500 tonnes in FY26, Parliament was told on Tuesday.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid disclosed the figures in a written reply to a question from reserved women’s seat MP Nazmun Nahar in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad.
In response to another question from Pabna-5 MP Md Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, the minister said the government had taken several measures to increase hilsa production, including declaring six hilsa sanctuaries, providing food assistance to fishermen and creating alternative employment opportunities.
He said hilsa accounts for around 10 percent of the country’s total fish production and is the largest contributor among individual fish species.
The six hilsa sanctuaries cover the upper and lower Meghna, the Padma, Kalabadar, Andharmanik and Tetulia rivers, as well as other coastal river areas.
The minister said 620,000 fishing families received 25kg of food assistance each during the 22-day ban on catching mother hilsa, amounting to a total of 15,504 tonnes.
Under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme, 367,000 families of fishermen refraining from catching jatka (juvenile hilsa) received 40kg of food assistance per month for four months in FY26, totalling 58,720 tonnes.
Besides, 311,500 fishing families in 69 upazilas across 14 coastal districts received 24,165.63 tonnes of rice during the 58-day fishing ban from April 15 to June 11 in FY26.
Under the Hilsa Resource Development and Management Project, the government distributed heifer calves to 26,176 fishing families to support alternative livelihoods during fishing bans.
Another 17,500 hilsa fishermen received technical training in income-generating activities, he added.
The minister said the government would continue taking programmes to raise hilsa production.
According to the figures placed before Parliament, hilsa production stood at 566,593 tonnes in FY22 and increased to 571,342 tonnes in FY23. It then declined to 529,487 tonnes in FY24 and 502,444 tonnes in FY25 before falling further to an estimated 419,500 tonnes in FY26.
On the relationship between hilsa production, supply and retail prices, the minister said fish prices largely depended on availability and were determined through auctions at wholesale markets.
He said the Department of Fisheries had no direct authority to fix retail fish prices under the free-market system, although regular market monitoring was conducted to assess the relationship between production, supply and retail prices.
The government was also conducting joint drives with local administrations and law enforcement agencies to prevent hilsa smuggling abroad, he added.
Replying to a question from independent MP Mohammad Salman Omar of Mymensingh-1, the minister said the government had taken strict measures to stop the use of illegal fishing nets, including current nets, which threatened endangered fish species.
He said the use of illegal nets had already reduced fish production in coastal areas by 30 to 40 percent.
The Department of Fisheries had established fish sanctuaries, released fingerlings in different water bodies and set up nurseries in wetlands to protect fish stocks.
As part of its regular activities, around 244 tonnes of fish fingerlings were released into open water bodies and nurseries were established in 978 beels across the country in FY26, he said.
The government had also taken an initiative to impose a 30-day fishing ban every year, from May 29 to June 28, in seven haor districts.
In reply to a supplementary question from Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni, the minister said some unscrupulous fishermen were indiscriminately catching fish through trawling in river estuaries and coastal areas stretching from Cox’s Bazar to Satkhira.
He said the practice involved dragging fishing nets behind vessels and was destroying different fish species.
Illegal bottom trawling in Bangladesh’s coastal waters was damaging fish breeding grounds, depleting stocks and pushing small-scale fishermen into economic hardship, he said.
The practice was also raising concerns over marine biodiversity, food security and the country’s blue economy.
The minister said the government would take legal action to stop the practice.
He added that the government had enacted the Fish Protection and Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2026, and established a total of 827 fish sanctuaries across the country.