Bangladesh has deployed warships and maritime patrol aircraft as part of strict surveillance to stop fishing during the hilsa breeding season.

In a statement on Saturday, which the report dates 4 September, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said 17 navy warships and state-of-the-art maritime patrol aircraft had been deployed to stop illegal fishing during the breeding season. They are keeping watch day and night so that no local or foreign fishermen can enter the deep sea.

The Bangladesh government has banned fishing from 4 to 25 October so that hilsa can spawn safely in the rivers.

Every year shoals of hilsa return from the Bay of Bengal to the country's rivers to spawn, a cycle deeply bound up with Bangladesh's economy and food culture. Hilsa is Bangladesh's national fish and one of the country's most popular foods, and it is also hugely popular in West Bengal in India.

Experts have warned that overfishing and the effects of climate change are upsetting the ecological balance of the low-lying delta, reducing hilsa numbers.

Md Abdul Wahab, a former WorldFish official, said hilsa need calm, quiet water when spawning, so using drones would be best.

The government has allocated 25 kg of rice to each fishing family during the three-week ban on hilsa fishing. But many fishermen said this help is not enough to live on.

"These three weeks are a very hard time for us," said 60-year-old fisherman Sattar Majhi. "We cannot find any other work then."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.