The government is working with scientists to find out why hilsa production is falling and how to raise it, Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid, minister for fisheries and livestock and for agriculture, said in Chandpur on Tuesday.
He was chief guest at a rice distribution under the VGF food programme and an awareness meeting for fishers, held for the brood hilsa protection campaign at Paschim Dasadi in Chandpur Sadar. Loss of river depth, pollution and submerged sandbars have cut hilsa supply, the minister said, and the government cannot raise output alone: fishers must protect brood hilsa and jatka (juvenile hilsa) too.
The government is giving food aid so that fishers do not go hungry during the fishing ban, he said, but alternative incomes are also needed. He stressed modern methods such as floating cage fish farming so that fishers can still earn during the ban months.
The livelihoods of farmers and fishers are closely tied to the economy and food security, the minister said, and Chandpur plays a major part in hilsa production and the river economy; conserving the fish would benefit both the country and fishing families.
Sheikh Farid Ahmed Manik, member of parliament for Chandpur-3, said protecting brood hilsa is not the job of the fisheries department or the administration alone, and that fishers, local representatives, officials and residents must work together. He urged that VGF food aid reach genuine fishers.
The meeting, chaired by deputy commissioner Ahmed Ziaur Rahman, was also addressed by fisheries and livestock secretary Md Delwar Hossain and Department of Fisheries director general Dr Md Khaled Konok. Catching, carrying and selling hilsa in the rivers is banned during the current breeding season.
The report is by Desh Rupantor's Chandpur correspondent.
Photo: hilsa at Chandpur fish market (file), Nahid Sultan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Desh Rupantor
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