Tenualosa ilisha (ilish, hilsa, hilsa herring
"ইলিশ" in Bangla, or hilsa shad) is a species of
fish related to the herring, in the Clupeidae
family. It is a very popular and sought-after food fish in South Asia. It is Bangladesh's national
fish.[1] The fish contributes about 12% of the total fish production and about 1.15% of GDP in Bangladesh. On 6 August 2017 Directorate of Patent, Design and Trademark (DPDT) under the Ministry of Industries, Bangladesh has declared the recognition of Ilish as the product of Bangladesh. 65% of total produced Ilish in the
world is produced in Bangladesh which applied for Geographical Indication (GI) in 2004. About 450,000 people are directly involved in the catching of the fish as a large part of their livelihood; around four to five million people are indirectly involved with the trade.
