The upazila fisheries office in Matlab Uttar, Chandpur, recovered 250 kilograms of jatka (young hilsa) from a passenger launch in a special drive to protect the fish. The drive ran from 3am to 6am on Friday, 12 December, in the Eklaspur and Mohanpur areas of the Meghna river.

With the active help of the Bangladesh Coast Guard, the jatka was seized from the Dhaka-bound passenger launch MV Redsun-5, travelling from Muladi. The recovered fish was immediately distributed among local orphanages and people in need.

Senior upazila fisheries officer Bijoy Kumar Das, contingent commander of the Mohanpur outpost M. Anwarul Haque, and Imam Hossain of the upazila fisheries office were present during the drive.

Bijoy Kumar Das said the Meghna at Chandpur is a very important area for jatka conservation. Catching and transporting jatka is completely banned, and the office runs regular patrols and drives. A significant quantity of jatka was recovered in the day's operation. Protecting jatka will increase production of the national fish, hilsa, and fishers will benefit, he said.

He added that surveillance of the river area would be stepped up and strict action against illegal catching and transport of jatka would continue.

Coast Guard contingent commander M. Anwarul Haque said surveillance on the river is being carried out with the utmost vigilance. Protecting jatka is a joint responsibility, and all kinds of co-operation will continue, he said.

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