Fishers have returned to the Meghna and Tentulia rivers in Bhola now that the 22-day ban to protect spawning hilsa is over. Since it was lifted at midnight on Wednesday (28 October), many have cast nets the same night, others are readying boats and trawlers, and some will go out on Thursday night, Desh Rupantor reports.
Fishers at Bholarkhal in Shibpur, Bhola Sadar upazila, and elsewhere along the Meghna say they had to borrow to keep their households going while they could not fish. "If we catch more hilsa and other fish, we can pay off our debts and run our families," said the fishers Md Zakir, Md Sattar, Mostafa Majhi and Nagar Majhi.
Some question how the ban was enforced. Md Rafiq, Kanchan and Ilias allege that while ordinary fishers stayed ashore, some unscrupulous fishers under the protection of influential people caught brood hilsa day and night. They fear the rivers may not now yield the catch they hoped for.
According to the district fisheries office, Bhola's seven upazilas have 168,370 registered fishers, of whom 143,656 are due 25 kg each of VGF rice, so part of the registered fishers fall outside that support. Fishers say the rice is not enough to feed a whole family for 22 days and meet other costs.
On the allegations of illegal fishing, district fisheries officer Muhammad Delowar Hossain said the department worked to enforce the ban despite limited staff and logistics. Raids led to jail terms and fines, and hilsa, nets and boats were seized.
The fisheries department expects the ban, which lets brood hilsa spawn undisturbed, to help raise hilsa production. The report was filed by Desh Rupantor's Bhola correspondent Md Anowar Parvez.
Photo: Fishing boats near the Meghna in Bhola, Toushik.hamid / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Desh Rupantor
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