Hilsa fishing resumes today as 7-month ban ends
Ban on hilsa fishing to protect uninterrupted development of jatka (young hilsa less than 9 inches long) ended yesterday. The Directorate of Fisheries imposed the ban on hilsa catching across the country for seven months from November 1, 2011. Sources in the district fisheries office said the government provided rice for families of 26,211 fishermen for four months from February to May. During the period each of the families received only 30 kg of rice per month, sources added. A large number of fishermen in the coastal areas were seen preparing yesterday to go for fishing hilsa in rivers, estuaries and deep sea with trawlers. Bankim Chandra, assistant director at Barisal office of the fisheries department, said hilsa fries develop 2-2.5 centimetres in length per month and move towards the sea after reaching 15-17cm in length. When they reach 25-28cm in length with 300-450 grams in weight, they start returning to sweet water rivers for laying eggs, he added. Wahiduzzaman, district fisheries officer, said they could not impose restrictions on netting of jatka in all areas properly due to fund constraint, lack of manpower, loopholes in law and other logistic support. Fisheries officials said the government steps, including year-long ban on the use of current nets, seven months (November-May) ban on jatka catching, two months (March-April) ban of hilsa fishing in four sanctuaries and ten-day (October 15-24) complete ban on hilsa fishing in 7,000-km areas, are contributing to increasing the stock of the popular fish in the country.
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