Fish production had increased significantly in Rajshahi after multidimensional development and extension programmes were undertaken. Fish farming had helped many people to become financially solvent in the district along with boosting their social dignity and meeting the demand of animal protein across the country. Amzad Hossain, a fish farmer of village Keshorehat in Mohanpur upazila, alone produced 30.25 tonnes of fish worth around Tk 44.25 lakh making neat profit of Tk 15 lakh in 2018. Through ensuring quality, he collected eggs from government hatchery and rivers and bred fish from the eggs himself. In the initial stage, he trained at Upazila Fisheries Office on fish farming. Fish production was 52,171 tonnes around ten years back but production increased to over 82,230 tonnes in 2018, district fisheries officer Shamsul Alam Shah said. Highlighting the various progarmmes taken by the Department of Fisheries, he said about 95,477 kilograms of fish fingerlings were released in internal water bodies to increase fish production. Noting that some 18,920 fishermen were given registration, the fisheries officer said that of them, about 12,325 fishermen had already got identity cards so that they could get the necessary support and avail the incentives of the government to improve their livelihood. He said that a total of 35 beel nurseries with area of 3,062.03 hectares were established in the district to boost the production of carp fish while 15 fish sanctuaries were established with a view to preserving indigenous fish species, which were on the verge of extinction. Around 50,580 people, who were involved in fish farming, were trained for enhancing fish production through improving their fish farming management, the fisheries officer said. We’ve established 312 projection hatcheries with area of 76.60 hectares for wide-ranging dissemination of modern fish farming technology through projection,’ he said. About the fish habitat development, Alam Shah said that about 100 derelict water bodies and wetlands measuring more than 39 hectares were excavated in the district during the last ten years. We’ve distributed eco-friendly net among 6,105 fishermen as their alternative employment support,’ he said. Fish growers in Rajshahi attained success in fish production in the last couple of years after the Department of Fisheries took diversified efforts to boost fish production there. After meeting up the growing local demand, the district is now supplying over 100 trucks of fish to different districts, including Dhaka city, every day, officials said. In Rajshahi, there were 41,876 ponds of 7,294 hectares, 6,108 commercial farms of 3,462 hectares and 486 open water bodies, including canals, beels, rivers and floodplains.