Senior upazila fisheries officials in Kumarkhali, Kushtia, have seized 5,000 metres of banned current net in a drive on the Padma to protect mother hilsa. The drive began at 12:30pm on Saturday, 11 October, from the Shilaidah ferry ghat area of Shilaidah union.

It went through various areas of Koya, Jagannathpur and Charsadipur unions before ending back at the Shilaidah ferry ghat at 4pm.

The drive was led by senior upazila fisheries officer Mahmudul Hasan, assisted by two police officers from the police station and staff of the fisheries office.

The roughly 5,000 metres of banned current net seized were burnt.

From 4 October to 26 October is the main hilsa breeding season, the report says. In these 22 days, catching, transporting, storing, buying and selling hilsa in rivers and the sea is banned and a punishable offence. Even so, some unscrupulous fishermen are fishing in the rivers, and the upazila administration and fisheries office are running drives to stop them.

Confirming the information, Mahmudul Hasan said regular drives are being run to protect mother hilsa. About 5,000 metres of illegal current net, with a market value of about Tk 50,000, were seized and burnt in the day's drive. Those who break the law face up to two years' rigorous imprisonment, a fine of Tk 5 lakh, or both.

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