A marine fish called the black datina or goldsilk seabream has been caught again in deep sea fishing nets. It is mainly found in the Sundarbans region and coastal brackish or semi-brackish waters. Depending on the region, this fish is called black datina, white datina, jati datina or king datina.

On Tuesday (September 8) morning, the fish was brought to the Alipur Fisheries Landing Center in Patuakhali by M/s Sagar Fish and sold in the open market through open auction for Tk 40,000. The 8 kg fish was sold at a price of 5,000 taka per kg.

This species of fish is not usually caught in fishermen’s nets. When the news spread, crowds gathered to see the fish. According to sources at the fish landing center, when the fish was brought to the warehouse, it was purchased by PM Musa, the owner of ‘Fresh Fish Kuakata’, through open auction.

He also said that he will prepare the fish for export. Earlier, last Wednesday, he bought another black poya weighing 4.5 kg for 72,000 taka. Siddique, a fisherman on the FB Mim trawler, said, “I caught a small, jerky Hilsa fish as well as a Datina fish.” I sold it at a very good price. If you catch all these fish, you can benefit financially. We are very happy.

The fish is also known as ‘black diamond’ and ‘dantina’ by local fishermen. It is in high demand in the international market, especially since the fish’s air bladder is used in the manufacture of traditional Chinese medicines and cosmetics, making it very expensive.

Sifat Fish shop owner Mir Mizanur Rahman said the fish was sold at a low price. Sometimes these fish are sold for as much as 4 lakh taka. Along with the fishermen, we, the shopkeepers, are also very happy to receive such valuable fish.

Md. Bakhtiar Rahman, research assistant of the ‘Healthy Seas’ project implemented jointly by WCS and WorldFish, funded by the Blue Action Fund, said that the scientific name of the fish is Acanthopagrus berda.
In terms of physical structure, the black datina fish has been recorded as reaching a maximum length of 90 centimeters, but naturally, our fishermen usually catch fish that are closer to 35 centimeters in size. Their favorite foods are small crabs and shrimp, small fish, snails and oysters, and various species of marine worms found in the sand or mud of the seabed.

Because their jaws are very strong, they can easily chew through hard-shelled crabs or shrimp. He added, however, that their natural breeding grounds are under threat due to climate change and coastal environmental pollution.

Therefore, it is the need of the hour to spread the artificial breeding technology of this black datina fish and protect its natural habitat to develop the blue economy and meet its nutritional needs.

Patuakhali District Fisheries Officer Bijon Kumar Nandi said that these fish are black poa fish. In the local language, they are called Datina fish. These fish are usually exported to various European countries. There is a high demand for this fish’s air sacs as they are used to make cosmetics, medicine, and yarn.

However, this fish is not always available. The fisheries official claims that fishermen are now catching more fish as a result of the recent 58-day ban, which is benefiting them economically.