Illegal 'China duari' nets have spread across the country. Numerous Facebook pages and YouTube channels advertise them, and they can be bought in shops in Dhaka and elsewhere. A Department of Fisheries leaflet warns that the nets indiscriminately destroy fish, fry and other aquatic animals — a threat to the native fish and aquatic biodiversity on which food security rests.

The China duari, or China ring net, is a trap with an entrance at each end: fish and other creatures go in but cannot get out. From a few cubits to a hundred long, it has rings set at intervals. The Fish Protection and Conservation Act does not name the net, but it bans or regulates 'fixed engines' — any net, cage or trap anchored in the ground or otherwise fixed. Motaleb Hossain, director of inland fisheries at the department, said the China duari falls under that definition and is illegal; if its use continues, he said, the canals, beels, rivers and haors will one day have no fish.

A Facebook page called 'China ring jal pakari bazar' posted 14 photos and videos in July and August this year, quoting Tk 1,100 to Tk 3,200 for nets of 25 to 102 cubits, with no factory address. Pages named BD Fishing Gears, China Ring Jal Collection, China Ring Jal Wholesale Market and many similar ones exist, and a YouTube channel of the same name shows nets being made. The videos carry phone, WhatsApp and imo numbers; orders are shipped by courier and paid through bKash or Rocket. On 5 September a shopkeeper in Chawkbazar in Old Dhaka said he sold the nets, sourced from Zinzira in Keraniganj.

The department is accused of failing to curb sales and use. Acting director general Md Khaled Konok said the materials — netting and rings — are readily available, the department is short-staffed and cannot control the trade alone, though raids with police support run daily. A letter on 13 April told divisional directors to step up drives and mobile courts, yet the department has no data on how many have been held since. Motaleb Hossain maintains that large quantities are being seized and that several factories have had their power cut.

Md Shahid Reza, head of fisheries technology at Bangladesh Agricultural University, said the gear has been in wide use since 2020-21 and traps everything from fish to snakes and frogs, which is why the government was forced to ban it. Enforcement needs stronger raids, penalties where necessary and a public campaign, he said.

Source: Prothom Alo