About 52,000 fishers in Lakshmipur and Chandpur districts were left out of government food aid (rice) while a two-month fishing ban was in force on the Meghna in March 2025, Jagonews24's Lakshmipur correspondent reported on 20 March. Without the aid, the report said, many were being forced back onto the river during the ban. Several fishers and a fishers' leader alleged irregularities in drawing up the lists, while district fisheries officers explained why people had been left off.
The ban and the sanctuary
Since 2006, fishing in this stretch has been banned every March and April to protect jatka, the young hilsa, and raise hilsa production. The ban covers about 100 kilometres of the Meghna, from Char Alexander in Lakshmipur to Shatnal in Matlab Uttar upazila of Chandpur. NTV reported on 28 February 2025 that in Chandpur the ban covered 70 kilometres from Shatnal to Char Bhairabi in Haimchar, starting that midnight and running to 30 April.
During the ban, catching, storing, transporting and selling any fish, hilsa included, is prohibited. Violators can face one to two years in prison, a fine of up to Tk 5,000, or both. The hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) is Bangladesh's national fish. It migrates from the sea up the rivers to spawn, and the young fish that grow in the rivers are known as jatka.
Who was getting rice
According to Jagonews24, Lakshmipur district had 46,049 registered fishers. After verification the latest list stood at 38,280, of whom 28,244 were due rice. Unofficial estimates put the district's fishers at about 60,000. Chandpur had 45,000 registered fishers, of whom 40,005 were receiving food aid. Across the two districts, about 52,000 fishers were getting no rice. Each listed fisher was due 40 kg of rice in each of four instalments, 160 kg in all.
The district fisheries office said fishers under 18 and those without a national identity card had not been registered, although many start fishing with their fathers and uncles at the age of 8 to 10. Yousuf Mia, administrative officer of North Char Bangshi union parishad in Raipur, said rice was being distributed but many fishers had been left off the list and were crowding the union parishad office.
On the afternoon of 17 March a clash between two groups broke out over rice distribution in Lakshmipur Model union of Chandpur Sadar upazila. Citing locals, Jagonews24 said an argument began when some fishers without cards tried to take rice, and at least 35 people were injured. bdnews24.com reported the same day that 10 people were hurt in the incident near the union parishad complex, and that police had recovered local weapons and the situation was under control.
Fishers' allegations and the officials' answers
Md Latif, a fisher from the Haimchar fish landing area in Chandpur, alleged to Jagonews24 that a local union parishad member had asked him for Tk 4,000 and that, because he did not pay, he was not getting rice. Asked which member, he declined to give a name, saying it would only bring him more trouble. The report did not name or quote anyone accused.
Sharif Hossain of Ludhua ghat in Kamalnagar and Mohabbat Akon of Naiyapara in Char Bangshi, Raipur, alleged that the local member had dropped their names from the register for political reasons. They said their sons and nephews had fished the river regularly for 8 to 10 years without appearing on the rice list, while people in other trades were getting the benefit by paying money. Mostafa Bepari, president of the Lakshmipur fishermen's federation, also alleged nepotism and irregularities in the lists and said rice was handed out short in weight.
Lakshmipur district fisheries officer Mohammad Billal Hossain said those who were under 18 when the latest register was drawn up had not been listed, which was why many were left out, and that there had been no irregularities in registration. Chandpur district fisheries officer Golam Mehedi Hasan said 40,005 fishers in the district were receiving 40 kg of rice in four rounds to keep them off the river, though some others, registered fishers among them, were still left out.
Photo: DelwarHossain / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sources: Jagonews24, bdnews24.com, NTV, Wikipedia (Ilish)
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