A free-for-all of jatka (young hilsa) fishing is going on in the Meghna and Tentulia rivers in Bhola. The jatka caught by fishermen are being sold openly at fish landing ghats and markets, while the fisheries department is largely inactive. This has raised fears of a hilsa shortage in the rivers.

Fishermen have gone out in groups after hilsa at Tulatuli in Dhonia, Bholar Khal in Shibpur, the Meghna at Ilisha Junction, and the Tentulia at Bheduria and Bhelumia in Bhola Sadar upazila. Most are using illegal current and behundi nets, which bring up jatka in shoals.

Shajahan Majhi, a fisherman from Tulatuli in Dhonia union, said he went out on the Meghna with five boatmen and caught 32 jatka, which he took to the ghat and sold for Tk 2,000. Sabuj Majhi said he and one other man caught 40 jatka on the Meghna and sold them for Tk 2,500.

Yusuf Majhi and Miraj Majhi, who fish the Tentulia at Bheduria, said: "Separately we have caught several hali of jatka. For every 20 jatka you get one or two hilsa of 500-700 grams. At the ghat jatka don't fetch much. But what can we do? We have to run our households and pay NGO instalments, so we bring back whatever we catch in the river."

Malek Majhi and Aktar Majhi, fishermen from Bholar Khal, said: "We know catching jatka is banned, but what can we do? Big hilsa hardly get caught in the river. So we catch jatka to scrape by and pay our debts."

Some fishermen, though, are not catching jatka. Monir Hossain Majhi and Ibrahim Majhi of Dhonia Tulatuli said: "At present some of our brothers in every upazila of Bhola are catching jatka with illegal nets. We fear we will not get big fish in the river in future. The use of illegal nets must be stopped."

The jatka are sold openly at auction at ghats across the district's seven upazilas, including Bholar Khal in Shibpur, Ilisha Junction, Tulatuli, Nasir Majhi, Rajapur, Bheduria and Bhelumia.

Kamal Bepari and Md Alauddin, wholesalers at the Tulatuli fish ghat, told Jagonews24: "Fishermen's nets don't catch big hilsa in the river, so they bring jatka to the ghat. We don't want to auction jatka, but right now hardly any big hilsa are caught, only jatka. So even knowing about the ban, we have to sell jatka to keep our businesses going."

Bhola district fisheries officer Biswajit Kumar Dev, however, claimed the department is carrying out regular drives. He said that because mother hilsa released more eggs this year, there are more jatka in the rivers, so more are being caught in fishermen's nets. Drives against illegal nets and jatka fishing are continuing, he said.

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