Fishermen haul in 300 croakers worth millions of rupees

Croaker fish dried swim bladder is sold at $20,000 to $80,000 per kilogramme in China

KARACHI:

Fishermen of the coastal village of Kharo Chan hauled in a treasure in their net worth millions of rupees bringing joy to the impoverished crew.

Hanif Katiyar and his crew had cast the net off their boat near Keti Bandar as usual, but they were overjoyed when they hauled in at least 300 croaker fish.

According to Kamal Shah, spokesman to Ibrahim Haydari Coastal Media Centre, fishermen caught more than 300 rare species of croaker fish from the open sea near Keti Bandar, a small port in the Thatta district. Shah said the price of croaker fish is said to be in millions of rupees. Being a valuable fish, fishermen keep their catch and sale a secret for fear of being robbed.

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According to Kamal Shah, surgical thread is made from fat and air bladder in the belly of the croaker fish. Croaker fish meat is being sold for Rs1,000 per kg, but its fat and air bladder are in high demand.

According to WWF Pakistan Technical Adviser Muhammad Moazzam Khan, croaker fish belongs to croaker species. It is called Suwa in Sindhi and Kar in Balochi. The reason for being expensive is the air bladder (pota) in it.

Being a valuable fish, fishermen keep their catch and sale a secret for fear of being robbed. PHOTO: EXPRESS

Moazzam Khan said that, air bladder has great importance in Chinese cuisine. In China, air bladder is also considered a symbol of glory. Just as people usually keep gold in their homes, the Chinese keep this dry air bladder at their homes, however, there is no truth in the talk of Croaker fish air bladder, being used in making the surgical thread used in the operations. “It’s dried swim bladder is sold at $20,000 to $80,000 per kilogram, which is why it is used as speculative investment,” he said. “In 2015, when its market went down, many in China who had invested in it committed suicide.”

Khan said the population of the fish in Pakistani waters had reduced by 95 per cent .

“It’s a migratory fish and can be found near the coast in groups,” he said, adding that the fish had changed the destiny of many Pakistani fishermen when it could still be found more easily.