Women from fishing families along the Cox’s Bazar coast are now passing busy days preparing dried fish, taking advantage of the intense heat and scorching sun of the Bengali month of Joishtho.
To meet food demands during the upcoming monsoon season, they are drying and preserving marine fish in advance.
A visit to the fishing community in the North Sonar Para Jhaubon area of Cox’s Bazar showed housewife Achiya Khatun busily drying freshly caught fish brought from the sea.
Rows of large marine fish lay across the yard, basking in the blazing sun.
Asiya Khatun said the current high temperatures were helping the fish dry very quickly.
“The heat is extremely intense now. Large fish dry much faster during this time, so we are preparing dried fish before the monsoon begins,” she said.
She also said that the monsoon season would start in the coming months of Ashar and Shraban, when continuous rainfall and cloudy weather make it difficult to dry fish properly.
For this reason, fishing families are preserving dried fish in advance.
Members of the fishing community said dried fish remains an important part of their food supply during the rainy season and is especially enjoyed for its distinctive taste when cooked during monsoon months.
They added that dried fish also plays a significant role in meeting the nutritional needs of many coastal families throughout the year.
By Mohammad Morshed
Photo: Hussain Shetu
