Ban on <i>jatka</i> catching extended for a month
The government has extended the ban on catching jatka (hilsa fry less than nine inches) for one more month in the 60-kilometre stretch of the Meghna in Chandpur.
District Fisheries Officer Qazi Iqbal Hossain said though the two-month-long jatka protection programme ended on April 30, the restriction on catching hilsa fry will remain effective until May 31. The fishermen can catch all kinds of fish except Jatka during the period, he added.
Making a long stretch of the Meghna in Chandpur sanctuary for hilsa, the jatka protection programme has been observing since 2006. As per the programme, the government imposes a ban on fishing jatka in the river in March-April every year
The fishermen in the area who have been provided with food support and financial assistance in the last two months will receive rice in May as well.
Enayet Ullah, a fisherman of Baro Station area in Chandpur town, said they each received 30kg of rice in the last two months apart from alternative employment by the government. The Directorate of Fisheries gave cows, goats and rickshaw to the fishermen as alternative employment.
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