A trawler in East Midnapore’s Digha netted a fortune — over Rs 84 lakh — by catching 121 specimens of the rare Telia Bhola fish early on Saturday.

The huge catch comes a couple of months after an extraordinarily large member of the same species was netted in late November off South 24-Parganas’ Gosaba island. The single fish had weighed over 78kg and fetched nearly Rs 50,000 in the market.

“This fish cannot usually be caught intentionally. It’s all about luck. Such a haul, as Saturday's, is nearly unimaginable... We are seeing it as some sort of divine compensation for the woefully low hilsa yields over the past couple of years,” said trawler owner Manoranjan Khanda, who sold his catch at the Mohana fish market after returning to shore on Saturday afternoon for Rs 840,29,50.

Local fishermen said the species was highly coveted in the export market as the fish’s bladder reportedly yields liver oil of medicinal value.

Khanda, a Ramnagar resident, reflected on how fishing had taken a bad turn following the lockdown in 2020. Diesel prices spiked and hilsa yield was woeful last year, he said. “But this catch has wiped off all my losses,” he beamed.

Khanda reportedly sold his catch to two buyers — one of whom bought 54 fish for Rs 62.91 lakh and the other 67 fish for Rs 21.38 lakh.

Assistant director of fisheries (marine) Surajit Bagh said: “The bladder of the Telia Bhola is useful for medicines. That is why these fish are exported and they sell at very high prices. However, it is rare that so many fish were caught in one single haul.” Shyamsunder Das, secretary of the Digha Fish and Fish Traders’ Association, also said the fish moved in the deep sea and a catch as big as this was rare.

“So, it is extremely rare to spot so many Telia Bhola species together.”