Some trawlers returned to the Samraj fish landing in Charfasson, Bhola, with rotten hilsa after the 22-day fishing ban ended. They are accused of staying in the deep sea and fishing throughout the ban, and much of the fish spoiled after so long on ice.
From dawn on Saturday, 31 October, hilsa-laden trawlers tied up one after another. Baskets of fish went to the wholesalers, and some were loaded onto trucks for Dhaka and other districts. The smell of rotting fish soon hung over the whole landing.
A fisher who did not want to be named said that on hearing of the ban his crew went out to the deep sea before 8 October with ice, fuel and food, and fished there for the full 22 days. About two-thirds of the catch rotted after so long in ice. Several wholesalers at the landing also said the fish had been caught at sea during the ban.
Aziz, president of the Samraj landing, said some fishers went to sea because the authorities were lax and should have been stricter. District fisheries officer Mohammad Delwar Hossain said some dishonest fishers may slip out to sea in secret, and that the Coast Guard is responsible for patrolling the sea during the ban.
In Chandpur, the consumer rights directorate fined a trader at the Boro Station fish market Tk 10,000 for keeping rotten hilsa for sale and destroyed the fish. And from midnight on Saturday an eight-month ban on catching jatka, young hilsa, came into force in rivers and the sea, lasting until 30 June.
Reporting: Ajker Patrika correspondents in Charfasson (Bhola) and Chandpur.
Photo: Gouriband / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Ajker Patrika
Comments
(0)