Community Fishing at Deepor Beel Begins

Our Correspondent

AZARA: Deepor Beel was seen teeming with buyers with the fishermen community starting their annual fishing in the water body from Sunday. Fishing will continue for a few days in the Beel.

Traditional fishermen equipped with various fishing devices like nets, bamboo-made fishing wickerwork etc from Keotpara, Natunbasti, Heerapara, Nuapara, Borbori, Matia etc rushed to the Beel and started fishing this morning. Thousands of people thronged the wetland to buy fish or just to watch as to how the fishermen catch fish.

This annual fishing in the wetland revives an old system of selling and buying fish that is called aska in Assamese. According to this system of buying and selling, fish is sold without being weighed. Bargaining starts from the size of fish, without weighing it. This system goes on the bank of the water body in the fishing season and at the Godhuli Bazar (evening market) at Azara all throughout the year. The Deepor Beel Panchpara Samabai Samiti Ltd (DBPSSL) did release fingerlings of various fish species in the Beel last year.

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