Hilsa fishing resumes tomorrow on the Meghna and Tetulia rivers in the district. After the ban for the main hilsa breeding season, from 4 October to today, 25 October, fishing will start again from 12.01am. Around 3 lakh fishermen in the district are spending their last hours weaving nets, repairing trawlers and mending old nets before heading to the rivers.

Fishermen in the fishing villages are delighted that the ban is ending after 22 long idle days. Although the hilsa season is over, plenty of hilsa has been caught in the winter over the past few years, so fishermen are far keener this time.

During the 22-day ban on catching mother hilsa, 20 kg of VGF rice each, 2,640 tonnes in all, was distributed to 132,000 fisher families in the district's seven upazilas. As a result most fishermen obeyed the law and stayed off the water, and the local administration took action against those who broke it.

At Ilisha ferry ghat, Tulatali, Bholar Khal, Ilisha Bishwa Road and other areas along the Meghna in Bhola Sadar, the fishermen's bustle was plain to see. Rows of boats and engine-driven trawlers sat on the embankment along the river bank. Some were mending old nets, others weaving new ones, others repairing boats and trawlers, and some were applying putty and tar to the underside of their vessels. From children upwards, no one was idle; whole families were pitching in together, dreaming that plenty of hilsa would end their hardship.

Fishermen Rahim and Rubel said: "Fishing in the river is closed now and we cannot take boats or trawlers out. We are getting by on loans. The fishing season is coming, so we are repairing the boats. If we don't get the boats ready in advance, we won't have time then."

Fishermen Monir and Mizan, busy repairing and painting their boats, said few fish were caught this year at the height of the season. They hoped shoals of hilsa would be caught after the ban so that they could repay their loans from the catch. All the fishermen will be on the river from tomorrow, they said.

Md Nurul Islam Member, president of the district small fishermen's association, said the government's mother hilsa protection programme has greatly increased hilsa production in the rivers, which is why most fishermen obeyed the law this year. Their boats, trawlers, nets and other gear are in the final stage of preparation, and they hope for big catches in the days ahead.

District fisheries officer SM Azaharul Islam said the ban on catching hilsa lifts tomorrow. It is hoped the mother hilsa were able to spawn undisturbed this year. Thanks to the government's wide publicity, most fishermen stayed away from catching hilsa, but drives against dishonest people breaking the law continue.

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