Mymensingh hatcher leads commercial breeding of Mola fish

A mathematics graduate turned fish breeder Nurul Haque, owner of Brahmaputra Fish Seed Hatchery in Mymensingh, has successfully pioneered the breeding and marketing of Mola Carplet – a freshwater species with high nutritional value.

This achievement would help save the small indigenous fish species – Amblypharyngodon Mola – from extinction due to overfishing, as it is very popular among the local people for its delicious taste.

Mola is a natural inhabitant of small water bodies such as ponds, canals, beels, streams, ditches, baors, reservoirs and inundated fields. The fish is rich in protein, vitamin and mineral content such as iron, zinc and calcium. They can grow to reach 20 cm (7.9 inches) in length.

Scientists from the Bangladesh Fish Research Institute (BFRI) and local fish breeders have long been trying to invent a way to breed the fish for the last 15 years using artificial means, said Dr Abdul Wahab, professor and former dean of Bangladesh Agricultural University.

They had been able to culture the fish artificially, however, Nurul Haque’s contribution is praiseworthy as he managed to breed the fish artificially and distributed the fish fries to the fish farmers for commercial cultivation, he added.

Nurul Haque, the hatchery owner, said, “This specific species of carp fish is becoming rare in the local market. The naturally bred fish is also short-lived and difficult to distribute alive across the country.

“But, the artificially bred fish species are easier to breed, grow, nurture, and distribute among fish farmers across the country.”

He further pointed out that over 5 lakh fries could be grown from one kilogramme of eggs. The farmers can produce five to ten kgs of Mola fish from one decimal of pond each without any feed, which can be economically beneficial for the fish farmers.

Also, the farming of vitamin A-rich Mola species in ponds across the country greatly improves the nutritional quality of other fishes without affecting the growth of the carps, says a report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

A mathematics graduate from Dhaka University, Nurul Haque established his farm on three acres of land with only Tk 30,000 in 1990.

His fish farm is now spread over 30 acres of land and produces over 1,00,000 eggs of rare species of local fish, contributing greatly to the overall pisciculture sector of the country.

For his outstanding contribution in pisciculture, Nurul Haque earned four national awards, including National Youth Award in 1997, National Fisheries Award in the National Fisheries Week in 1998 (Silver) and 2009 (Gold) and Bangabandhu National Agriculture Award (Bronze) in 2012.