<i>Jatka</i> catching on defying 2-month ban
When Fisheries Department organises a large boat procession joined by fishermen on the Padma River in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur district to create awareness about preservation of jatka (young hilsa) on Monday marking Jatka Preservation Week, sale of jatka goes on openly at Pirtala Bazar in Dumki uapzila of Patuakhali district.Photo: STAR
Catching of hilsa fry goes on unabated in Patuakhali and Bhola, defying a ban imposed by the government on netting the fish for two months from March 1 to April 30. A section of fishermen are catching fry, popularly Kmown as Jatka, at different points of Tatulia, Paira, Lohalia, Ramnabad, Buragourango, Agunmikha, and Andharmanik rivers under Patuakhali districts and are selling those to fish traders in local markets under the nose of the law enforces. While visiting some local markets, this correspondent found many fish traders selling jatka at Tk 150 to 200 per kg. Patuakhali district fishery office sources said jatka catching in the coastal rivers is banned for two months so that hilsa fry can mature during the period. The government has launched a VGF (vulnerable group feeding) programme and is giving financial assistance to the fishermen of the two coastal districts where the ban has been imposed. Under the VGF programme, 17,000 out of 33,000 fishermen in Patuakhali and 40,000 out of 1,70,000 fishermen in Bhola districts are getting 30 kgs of rice per month. Besides, Tk 66.36 lakh has been sanctioned for rehabilitation of 948 fishermen in Patuakhali this year, Faruq Hossain, Patuakhali district fishery official, said. The government has declared four sanctuaries with a combined length stretching up to 330 km. The first 100-km sanctuary in the Meghna stretches from Shatnol to Char Alexander in Lakshmipur. The second is the 90-km long Shahbazpur channel of the Meghna from Madanpur to Char Pial in Bhola district. The third sanctuary covers a 100-km stretch of the Tentulia river from Bheduria in Bhola to Char Rustom in Patuakhali. The fourth is the 40-km long Andharmanik river in Patuakhali At the inaugural ceremony of 'Jatka Protection Week 2010' at Town Hall Square of Daulatkhan upazila in Bhola on Sunday, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas said the government has increased the amount of rice for the fishermen who will be affected due to protection of jatka. The minister said a Tk 22.88 crore project titled “Jatka Protection, Alternative Employment and Research project” has been taken up for 20 upazilas of four coastal districts to increase hilsa production, create awareness at preserv jatka and alternative employment.
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