Photo credit: ICSF (Samudra – Volume 48)
Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The inserted photo has been captioned “Tuna being dried in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh”.
Dried fish is the low-cost dietary protein source in Bangladesh as it provides livelihoods and incomes for large number of people. Moreover, dried fish is easily transportable, marketable and storable. In addition to the importance of dried fish for local consumption, considerable quantity is being exported.
Drying of marine fish is very common in the entire coastal areas of Bangladesh whereas Cox Bazar is one of the main supply areas of dried fish. The main marine or freshwater species which are used for drying are ribbon fish, Bombay duck, anchovies and shrimp, with other quantities of puti, poma, pomfret, and sting ray; this in in addition to dried tuna as shown hanged to a rack in the inserted photo. Fish are sun-dried on racks and frames or mats lay on the ground. In general, fish drying in coastal belt starts in October and ends in March.
Exported dried fish goes to several countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States of America, United Arab Emirates etc. There could be specific demands on particular dried products such as the jewfish which is caught by the long-lines in the Cox Bazar are dried to be exported mostly to Hong Kong as salted dried product.
