The killing of jatka, or young hilsa, has not stopped on the Padma and Meghna rivers in Chandpur despite a strict government ban. The administration continues to run regular drives, but they are having little visible effect. With the collusion of influential quarters and some dishonest people involved, jatka is being caught and sold both openly and in secret, which has effectively called the ban into question.

A recent visit to different stretches of the Padma and Meghna found fishermen freely catching jatka. In many places no regular patrol by the river police or the Coast Guard was seen. Even where patrol boats were visible, no effective action was seen being taken against fishermen who were fishing.

Local people allege that jatka is being caught freely in front of the administration. Because news of drives leaks in advance, fishermen are often able to get away easily, and the drives remain largely a formality.

To protect hilsa stocks, the government has banned all fishing, selling, stockpiling and transport of fish in about 70 kilometres of river for two months, March and April. Ignoring the ban, fishermen are casting nets at night at various points in Chandpur Sadar, Haimchar and Matlab Uttar upazilas. The jatka they catch is sold at riverside markets and in neighbourhoods.

According to local sources, the illegal activity continues under the protection of some leaders and activists of political parties and influential people. As a result, jatka fishing cannot be stopped completely even though drives are held.

Under the law, anyone caught fishing in breach of the ban faces imprisonment of at least one year and up to two years, or a fine of up to Tk 5,000, or both.

Yunus and Abdul Awal, fishermen on the bank of the Meghna, told Jago News: "There is hardly any jatka protection drive this year. Fishermen are catching fish in the river with various nets, including current nets."

One of them said: "They used to patrol by speedboat, but now they don't come. All the jatka in the river has been caught this year. Those of us who fish with big nets don't think we will get hilsa ahead. The government needs to step up its monitoring."

Hilsa researcher Dr Md Anisur Rahman said: "Today's jatka is tomorrow's big hilsa. Indiscriminate catching of jatka in the river could have an adverse effect on hilsa production in future. If jatka fishing continues like this, hilsa production will be seriously hampered."

He said: "Protecting hilsa has now become a big challenge. If 70-80 per cent of jatka can be protected, the country's hilsa production could be raised to nearly six lakh tonnes."

Mirza Omar Faruk, senior upazila fisheries officer of Chandpur Sadar upazila, said patrols on the river are continuing jointly with the fisheries department, the Coast Guard and the river police.

He said the fisheries department had run drives in rotation round the clock. In the past month, 140 fishermen were detained for breaching the ban, and a large quantity of current net was seized.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister Md Amin Ur Rashid said the government is taking a firm stand on conserving jatka to protect the country's hilsa resources, and enforcement of the law has been strengthened further.

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