The home of hilsa will be Bhola, not Chandpur, said Farida Akhter, adviser for fisheries and livestock. "From today the home of hilsa is Bhola," she said. "The home of hilsa cannot be anywhere else; it will be in Bhola."

She was speaking at an awareness meeting on the hilsa conservation drive at Shibpur in Bhola on the afternoon of Tuesday, 22 October.

"If the hilsa resource can be protected, the people of Bhola will never remain poor," she said. "Just as the government protects hilsa through its drives, you too have a responsibility to protect it. The fishers' demand is for financial help alongside rice during the ban. Give us time and we will try to meet that demand too."

The meeting was chaired by Bhola Deputy Commissioner Md Azad Jahan. Others who spoke included Sayed Mahmud Belal Haider, secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; Zillur Rahman, described as director general of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; Captain Mohammad Shaheen Majid, zonal commander of the Coast Guard's south zone; and Bhola Superintendent of Police Md Shariful Haque.

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