More than half a lakh fishermen in Chandpur were waiting to go back out on the rivers after 22 days to keep their lives going. They hope that with the ban over their nets will fill with silver hilsa and the smiles will return to their faces.

To protect hilsa breeding, a 22-day ban on catching hilsa began on October 4 on the Padma and Meghna in Chandpur and on other rivers across the country. During that time, catching, selling, transporting and storing fish on the rivers was completely banned. After the long break, fishermen were due to go back out on the rivers from midnight on Saturday (October 25), full of hope.

In the last hours, some were repairing boats and others were stitching old nets back together. Though they looked happy, the fishermen were worried about whether they would catch the hilsa they hoped for. They said there had been no hilsa in the river even at the height of the season this year, and now the season is over. If their nets do not bring in the hilsa they need, their hardship will grow.

During the 22-day ban, 45,615 registered fishing families in Chandpur were given 25 kg of rice each as food assistance. But this was not enough for the fishermen, and they faced severe hardship after losing their livelihood during that period.

Majib Dewan, a fisherman on the banks of the Meghna in the Ananda Bazar area of Chandpur Sadar, said: "The government imposed a 22-day ban and we observed it. But some dishonest fishermen dodged the administration and caught hilsa in the river, which put the hilsa breeding season under threat. We are now waiting to go out on the river full of hope. If Allah accepts, we will get hilsa in the river; if not, our debts will grow."

Zakir Hossain, a fisherman from the Safarmali area of Chandpur Sadar, said: "We are stitching nets and repairing boats at the last minute. We have brought the boat close to the river; now we will just catch fish. We catch other river fish as well as hilsa. But we can't tell whether there are fish in the river. If there aren't, how will we run our households?"

Chandpur Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mohsin Uddin said that, compared with other years, strict operations were carried out this year on the Padma and Meghna to protect mother hilsa. "We made every effort so that mother hilsa could release their eggs. This year we carried out around 400 operations. Those who broke the law were jailed or fined. During the ban, every fisherman was given 25 kg of rice as food assistance. We also tried to motivate them and raise awareness so that they would not fish."

He added: "We think the mother hilsa protection drive in Chandpur has been a success. Although isolated incidents happened in different parts of the country, there were few such incidents in Chandpur by comparison." If the eggs released by mother hilsa this year can grow properly through the jatka stage, the hilsa target will rise, he said.

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