To conserve jatka (young hilsa) and protect mother hilsa, the government has banned all fishing on the Meghna river for 22 days, from Saturday midnight (13 October) to 3 November.

The district fisheries officer says drives will be run on the river every day, jointly by the fisheries department, the upazila and district administrations, police and the Coast Guard, to enforce the ban. He claims fish production is rising because last year's drive was successful.

Each fisher will get 25 kg of VGF rice during the ban. Fishers have demanded that proper lists be drawn up and the allocated rice be distributed quickly.

According to the district fisheries office, Lakshmipur district has 52,000 fishers, of whom 43,300 are registered. They make their living fishing on the Meghna. Casting any kind of net and catching any fish on the Meghna has been banned for 22 days from Saturday midnight to 3 November. All fishing will be banned on the 100 km stretch of the Meghna from Alexander in Ramgati, Lakshmipur, to Shatnal in Chandpur, and this 100 km area has been declared a hilsa sanctuary.

During these 22 days, preserving, catching, transporting, marketing and stockpiling any hilsa will be banned in these areas. The district administration and the district fisheries department are continuing campaigns, including announcements by loudspeaker and posters, on the river and in coastal areas to make fishers aware. The hilsa production target this year has been set at 28,500 tonnes.

Fishers Sohel Hossain and Marfat Ullah of the Majuchowdhurirhat ghat area said fishers would respect the ban the government has imposed to conserve jatka, protect mother hilsa and increase production, and would not go on the river. They will obey the law. But the promised rehabilitation of fishers has not happened so far, they said. They hope every fisher gets government support, and demanded that proper lists be drawn up and the allocated rice be distributed quickly.

Meanwhile, many fishers said the hilsa being caught now are very small, and few carry roe. They claimed that if the drive had started 10 days later, the effort to protect mother hilsa and conserve jatka would have been fully achieved.

District fisheries officer Md Billal Hossain said drives would be run on the river every day jointly by the fisheries department, the upazila and district administrations, police and the Coast Guard to enforce the ban. Legal action will be taken against those who break the law and go on the river. If the drive succeeds this time, there is a chance of producing much more hilsa, he said.

Deputy commissioner Rajib Kumar Sarker said upazila nirbahi officers have already been instructed to distribute the allocated VGF rice among fishers. Each fisher will be given 25 kg of rice, and no one will be left out, he said.

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