The upazila fisheries office and the coast guard have seized 25 maunds (1,000 kg) of jatka, young hilsa, from a passenger launch on the Meghna river in Matlab Uttar upazila of Chandpur.

The jatka were seized from the Barishal-to-Dhaka launch MV Bandhan-5 at around 2am on the night of Friday (7 March). The fish were distributed to orphanages and destitute people the following morning.

Bijoy Kumar Das, senior fisheries officer of Matlab Uttar upazila, confirmed the information.

According to the upazila fisheries office, the jatka conservation programme began in Chandpur's waters on 1 March. Of the country's six sanctuaries, the programme, including a ban on all fishing, is being carried out in the 70 km hilsa sanctuary on the Meghna from Shatnal to Char Bhairabi in Chandpur. Catching, transporting, storing and selling jatka have been banned during this period.

M Kabir, an officer of the Mohanpur coast guard unit, said the jatka were seized in a drive on the passenger launch MV Bandhan-5, travelling from Barishal to Dhaka on the Meghna in the Mohanpur area. The fish were being taken to Dhaka for sale, but no one could be detained. The seized jatka were later distributed among orphanages and destitute people in the Mohanpur area in the presence of upazila senior fisheries officer Bijoy Kumar Das.

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