A boat rally was held in Barishal to mark the drive to protect mother hilsa during the fish's main breeding season. Organised by the district administration and the district office of the Department of Fisheries, the rally set off from the DC Ghat area of the city at about 11:30am on Saturday (4 October), toured several points on the Kirtankhola river and ended back at DC Ghat.

Barishal Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Delwar Hossain, Department of Fisheries deputy director in Barishal Kamrul Islam and other officials took part.

Fisheries officials said 30 executive magistrates had been appointed across the district and its upazilas to run the conservation drive during the government's 22-day ban. Anyone caught fishing in defiance of the ban faces two years' rigorous imprisonment or a fine of Tk 5 lakh.

The deputy commissioner said the drive would protect fish resources and increase the supply of hilsa in the country. To support fishermen while the ban is enforced, each fisherman will receive 25kg of rice under the VGF programme.

According to the Department of Fisheries, Barishal has 79,623 fishermen, of whom 66,524 hold fisher cards. A total of 1,663.1 tonnes of rice has been allocated for card-holding fishermen. Across the division there are 4.47 lakh fishermen, of whom 3.4 lakh will be given rice.

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