Bangladesh will bring a strict law to stop the use of harmful trawl nets in the estuaries and coastal waters of the Bay of Bengal, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Aminur Rashid told parliament on 10 November. He was answering Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni on the second day of the fourth session of the 13th parliament, Barta24 reports.
The chief whip said trawling with special nets pulled by speedboats is widespread along the coast from the southern estuaries through Cox's Bazar to Satkhira, destroying not only large fish but also fry, fingerlings and eggs. Administrative efforts, he said, have failed to bring it under control.
The minister replied that there is no alternative to ending trawl-net use if marine fish stocks are to be protected. He said these nets are cutting fish production in marine areas by 30 to 40 percent, because small fish and fry die as the nets are dragged along the seabed.
Raids on factories making illegal nets and police searches have destroyed large quantities of them, he said, but to stop the practice for good a bill will soon be put before parliament, with tough penalties for both the makers and the users of trawl nets.
If the minister's figure is right, ending nets that destroy fry and eggs matters both to coastal fishers' livelihoods and to the country's supply of sea fish.
Photo: Shafiul / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Barta24
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