Lakshmipur fishers get food aid during hilsa ban as state minister urges joint protection

On the afternoon of Saturday, 4 April 2026, the Department of Fisheries handed out food to fishers on the premises of the Lakshmipur Zila Parishad, during the March-April ban on fishing in the district's hilsa sanctuary. Speaking at the event, held under the Hilsa Resource Development and Management Project, Fisheries and Livestock State Minister Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said hilsa was a national resource and that everyone had to make a collective effort to protect it.

Addressing the fishers, the state minister said that staying off hilsa for two months was in their own interest: they would later catch bigger fish and sell them at higher prices, and the country's stock would grow. "We will not catch small hilsa. We will protect our own resource ourselves," he said. He asked the fishers not to break the rules of the ban, saying the government had set them in the fishers' own interest.

He said fishers would also receive family cards and that no one would be left out. According to him, the list of fishers had been drawn up afresh, and those still missing from it would be added. He claimed that the earlier list had not been accurate and that there had been corruption in rice distribution, and said the distribution was now being watched constantly.

State Minister Tuku said about 40,000 fisher families were receiving assistance. Earlier only rice had been given; this time two months' food was being provided. New Nation Bangla, citing him, reported that for the two months each family was getting 12 kg of flour, 10 litres of oil and 8 kg of lentils along with other food items, in addition to 160 kg of rice under the VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding) programme.

The event was chaired by Deputy Commissioner SM Mehedi Hasan. The chief guest was Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, member of parliament for Lakshmipur-3 (Sadar). Special guests included Abul Khair Bhuiyan, MP for Lakshmipur-2; Shahadat Hossain Selim, MP for Lakshmipur-1; Department of Fisheries Director General Zia Haider Chowdhury; and Hemayet Hossain, joint secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.

Citing the district fisheries office, the Daily Sangram reported on 5 March 2026 that about 100 kilometres of the Meghna, from Alexander in Lakshmipur's Ramgati upazila to Shatnol in Chandpur, is a sanctuary for jatka, young hilsa. All fishing in the Lakshmipur stretch of the Meghna was banned from midnight on 1 March to midnight on 30 April; during that time catching, buying, selling, transporting, storing and marketing jatka is prohibited. According to the district administration, breaking the ban can bring a prison term and a fine of up to Tk 5,000. District and upazila administrations, the Department of Fisheries, police, the Coast Guard and the river police run drives on the river.

District Fisheries Officer Muhammad Delwar Hossain said at the time that 4,649 tonnes of rice had been allocated for 29,060 fisher families in the district, with each family to get 40 kg a month, 160 kg over four months. The same report said the district had 46,000 registered fishers, but people involved said more than 50,000 actually fished the Meghna, leaving many families outside the aid.

Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha), known locally as ilish, is the national fish of Bangladesh. On 6 August 2017 the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks declared it a geographical indication (GI) of Bangladesh. The fish migrates from the sea up rivers to spawn. Young hilsa are called jatka in Bangladesh, and catching them is illegal.

Photo: Fahad Faisal / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, New Nation Bangla, The Daily Sangram, Dhaka Tribune, Wikipedia (Ilish, Sultan Salauddin Tuku)