To allow hilsa to breed safely, catching hilsa will be banned across the country for 22 days, from 8 to 29 October.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the national task force committee on hilsa resource development, held to fix the fishing ban period in the main breeding season and to carry out the brood hilsa conservation drive.

Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid, minister for fisheries and livestock and for agriculture, chaired the meeting on Tuesday in the ministry's conference room.

Under the meeting's decision, transporting, storing, marketing, buying, selling and bartering hilsa will be banned nationwide during the ban period, and the brood hilsa conservation drive will be carried out. The government will provide VGF food assistance to fishermen who stop catching hilsa during this time.

In his remarks as chair, the minister said there would be no leniency in protecting brood hilsa, to ensure sustainable production. Surveillance and drives must be stepped up in the main breeding areas, including Barishal, Chandpur and Bhola.

He said the district administration, river police, coast guard and fisheries department must work together to enforce the ban strictly during the breeding season, and extra vessels and logistical support would be provided at hotspots if needed.

Surveillance must also increase at ice factories, wholesale depots and markets to stop the sale of illegally caught fish, the minister said, and strict drives must be run to remove illegal nets from breeding grounds, including the Chandpur estuary. Under no circumstances should fishing or marketing be allowed during the ban. If all agencies keep up their joint efforts to protect brood hilsa, production will rise further next season, he said.

State minister for fisheries and livestock Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said the reason hilsa production keeps falling must be found through research, and any weaknesses or gaps in activities would be identified and addressed.

Stressing the need to stop illegal nets, he said effective steps must be taken to halt the manufacture and sale of banned nets. Alongside the government, fishermen's representatives must also make fishermen aware not to buy such nets.

He said the government gives fishermen incentives to keep them from fishing during the ban, and monitoring would be increased to make sure the assistance reaches genuine fishermen.

The state minister said it was a matter of concern that falling hilsa production meant fish had to be imported from abroad. The causes must be identified and everyone must work together. A coordinated action plan will be taken to protect hilsa as a national resource and GI product and to increase production.

Fisheries and livestock secretary Md Delwar Hossain, Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation chairman Md Mir Hossain, Department of Fisheries director general Dr Md Khaled Konok and Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute director general Dr Md Latiful Islam attended the meeting.

Representatives of the Cabinet Division, the shipping and commerce ministries, deputy commissioners, RAB, the coast guard, the air force, river police and BGB also took part, along with senior ministry and department officials, representatives of the University of Dhaka and the National Fishermen's Association.

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