Trawlers return to Bay as ban on hilsa fishing goes
Wholesale fish market in Port Road area of Barisal city gets busy yesterday as hilsa started arriving there following end of September 25-October 5 ban on its catching that was imposed to ensure safe spawning of the popular fish during its peak breeding period.Photo: STAR
Several hundred trawlers with fishermen aboard sailed for the Bay yesterday morning to catch hilsa as an 11-day ban on netting the popular fish ended on Friday. The government imposed the ban on catching hilsa from September 25 to October 5 to ensure safe spawning during the peak breeding period. As many as 365 fishermen were jailed while 12.56 tonnes hilsa and 40 lakh metres net worth about Tk 18 crore were seized in three coastal districts--Patuakhali, Bhola and Barguna during the ban period. In Bhola, 315 fishermen were sent to jail for fishing in different rivers and in the Bay, defying the ban. Of them, 60 were jailed in Sadar upazila, 25 in Doulatkhan upazila, 27 in Tajumuddin upazila, 34 in Lalmohon upazila, 150 in Charfashion upazila and nine in Manpura upazila. During the period, law enforcers seized nine tonnes of hilsa and over 20 lakh metres net worth about Tk 9 crore in the district. They also seized 33 fishing trawlers from different points, Pritish Kumar Mollick, district fisheries officer (DFO), said. In Patuakhali, 35 fishermen were sent to jail while 8.56 tonnes of hilsa and 12.64 lakh metres nets worth about Tk 5.62 crore seized in the district. According to District Fisheries Office Iqbal Hossain, law enforcers filed 61 cases with different police stations and seized five fishing trawlers from Bay and different rivers in the district during the period. In Barguna, 15 fishermen were sentenced to prison while 5 tonnes of hilsa and 6.29 lakh metres nets worth about Tk 3.25 crore seized in the district. A total of 42 cases were filed with different police stations in the district during the period. Our Barisal correspondent reported that 545 mobile courts conducted drives in fish landing stations and kitchen markets in six districts of Barisal division and seized 29,029-Kg hilsa, 68, 05135 metres net worth about Tk 29.96 core, and fined 4,444 fisherman for fishing in the Bay and different rivers during the ban period. The courts also sent 526 fishermen to jail for catching mother hilsa, defying the embargo. The ban was imposed in 7,000 square kilometers hilsa breeding grounds at four points of seven coastal districts. While visiting the wholesale market in port road area of Barisal city yesterday, fish traders told this correspondent that around 600 maunds hilsa arrived in the market in the morning. BSS adds: Around 61.16 tonnes of hilsa were seized during the ban period across the country. Nasiruddin, chief coordinator of central coordination cell of mother hilsa protection programme and director (marine) of the Department of Fisheries, told the news agency that the department with the help of law enforcers conducted 4,402 drives across the country during the period. Moreover, the government lodged 559 cases against the fishermen who defied the ban and sentenced 850 others to jail, he added.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments