A 22-day fishing ban to protect breeding hilsa begins after midnight on Wednesday, 7 October, along 70 km of the Padma and Meghna in Chandpur, and runs until midnight on 29 October. Catching, buying, selling, storing and carrying any fish, hilsa included, is banned for that time. But fishermen and fish traders ask whether raids in the main sanctuary alone will let mother hilsa spawn safely.
On Wednesday, in the fishing quarters of Anandabazar, Tilabari, Ranagoal in Puranbazar, Ramdasdi, Bahoria and Harina ferry ghat in Sadar upazila, most fishermen were pulling their boats and nets ashore; some will repair boats during the ban, others mend torn nets. Alamgir of Anandabazar said he had caught few hilsa this time, so he had beached his boat early.
Shahjahan Bepari of Ramdasdi warned that unless the canals joined to the Meghna are watched, dishonest fishermen will use them to slip into the river, so the river police and other forces should patrol them regularly. Nasir Uddin of the same area said seasonal fishermen tend to go out during the ban, and that the government's food aid is hard to run a family on.
Idris Ali, a fish trader in Bahoria, said fishermen from Shariatpur and Munshiganj often come into Chandpur's waters, so tighter watch is needed to keep them out. Sirajul Islam Soyal, a veteran trader at Harina fish landing, said that after more than a decade of drives, the key estuaries where hilsa move and breed need effective surveillance too.
Chandpur Sadar upazila fisheries officer Mirza Omar Faruk said several coordination meetings have been held and awareness campaigns are running along the Meghna coast. District fisheries officer Md Fakhrul Islam said district and upazila task forces will raid the sanctuary area regularly, and that the department is coordinating with neighbouring districts to stop fishermen coming from there.
He said 41,000 registered fishermen have already received 25 kg of rice each as food aid, and that anyone defying the ban will face the law. The report is by Banglanews24's Chandpur district correspondent.
Photo: Nurunnaby Chowdhury (Hasive) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Banglanews24
Comments
(0)