<i>Jatka</i> being sold as 'chapila'
Fishermen doing it for survival
Hard pressed fishermen are netting huge quantities of jatka (hilsa fry) during the ban period from November to May as they have not received the money and rice allocated for their survival during the seven months. The netted fry is being sold in local markets as 'chapila' fish. The fisheries department banned catching of jatka from November to May under the Jatka Protection Programme in Patuakhali to help growth of popular fish hilsa, said sources in Patuakhali district fisheries office (DFO). An amount of Tk 80.52 lakh was allocated for six upazilas under the district for distribution among poor and jobless fishermen to create alternative earning sources like rickshaw or van pulling, rearing of goat, hen or duck, tailoring and other jobs under the programme in 2010-11 fiscal year. Under the programme, Tk 19 lakh was allocated for Galachipa upazila, Tk 17 lakh for Kalapara, Tk 15 lakh for Dashmina, Tk 12 lakh for Baufal upazila, Tk 10 lakh for Patuakhali sadar upazila, and, Tk 7.20 lakh for Mirzaganj, sources said. There are 25,711 hilsa fishermen in six upazilas in the district, sources said. But over five months after start of the ban period, the fishermen concerned are yet to get the benefit. The government also allocated 1582.72 tonnes of rice for 19,784 jobless fishermen for the same period but the rice is yet to be disbursed due to lack of approval by the higher authority, sources said. Consequently, many fishermen, especially the poor ones, are netting jatka in the local rivers as they have no alternative source of income to maintain families. A taskforce committee, formed to monitor the programme to prevent jatka catching in Patuakhali, seized about 6.73 lakh metres of net worth about Tk 1.99 crore from November 1 last year till April 12 this year from the coastal areas and different rivers in the district. The committee also seized 4.45 tonnes of jatka as 157 drives were conducted in 758 warehouses and 548 bazars in the district. But the initiative is far from achieving optimum success as necessity leads poor and jobless fishermen to defy the ban. "We have not heard anything about official allocation of fund for us," said Abul Kashem, a fisherman of Chhoto Bighai village in Patuakhali Sadar upazila. "We have submitted a list of poor and jobless fishermen but yet to get the allocation for them," said Shahjada Habibullah Masud, chairman of Itbaria union under Sadar upazila. Asked about the matter, District Fisheries Officer Md Iqbal Hossain said, "We sent the list of poor fishermen and hope that we will be able to disburse the allocation for them very soon after getting approval from the higher authorities."
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