On Poila Boishakh Sheikh Hasina Says I Won't Eat Ilish, You Don't Either. Save The Hilsa

Dhaka: Poila Boishakh or the Bengali New Year is just a day away and the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, is on a mission to save the famous 'hilsa' or the Asian river salmon.

"I will eat panta bhat and shutki bhorta, not ilish, onPohela Boishakh," the prime minister told Dhaka Tribune on Thursday. The dried mashed fish, hilsa and rice soaked overnight in water are traditionally part of the New Year feast in Bangladesh.

For the last two years, Sheikh Hasina has been urging people to stop catching the hilsa before the monsoon season, when shoals of this silver white fish swim upstream for spawning.

Every year, starting from March 1, Bangladesh imposes a two-month ban on catching hilsa in several southern districts, to control over-fishing of this fish, which is a delicacy among Bengalees, residing anywhere in the world.

In January this year, the Bangladesh government lifted an indefinite ban on hilsa export; the country had launched a frantic campaign in 2012 to protect the hilsa. The fish is a major export item to neighbouring India and several Middle Eastern countries. The country's fisheries minister said Bangladesh was losing out on taxes as a lot of fish was being smuggled into India.
 West Bengal government to become "self-reliant" in hilsa production 

On the other side of the border, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government is not far behind in hilsa conservation. The ruling Trinamool Congress on its website announced that the state, in a bid to become "self-reliant in the production of hilsa" will promote growing the fish in ponds and rivers. The Bengal fisheries department has signed an agreement with a Norwegian company, to grow salmon in freshwater and river waters. 

In Kolkata, food curators at the leading hotels are in a race with their Poila Boishak menu. From smoked to fried and the fish in mustard sauce, hilsa rules.