The 65-day ban on fishing in the sea has ended, and hilsa fishing resumed from the night. Life has returned to the fishing villages on the coast of Mirsarai upazila in Chattogram.

According to the Mirsarai upazila fisheries office, there are 2,557 registered fishermen in the upazila. Registered fishermen received government assistance while fishing was banned, and now that the ban has been lifted they have made all preparations to fish at sea.

The coastal Saherkhali area of Mirsarai is one of the country's five hilsa breeding points. Residents of 29 fishing villages on the upazila's coast were out of work for nearly two months because of the ban. These villages have about 5,000 families, of which 420 fishing families are in Shaherkhali alone. Fishermen say the government aid given during the ban was not enough.

Sambhu Jaldas of Anandabazar in Saherkhali union said: "There are many fishermen in this upazila, but only some are registered. Those who are registered got benefits during the ban. Most fishing families went through two hard months. Even though 431 fishing families are registered, they did not get government help."

Himangshu Jaldas of Domkhali said: "After the ban ends following two long months, fishermen are somewhat enthusiastic, but there is also worry about loans. Many have loans they could not repay because fishing was stopped for two months. Now we have to fish to live and to repay the loans as well. We will go to sea with high hopes this time, because last year we did not get the hilsa we expected. We hope to get plenty this year."

Nasim Al Mahmud, senior upazila fisheries officer, said fish production is increasing because fishing in the Bay of Bengal was stopped for a long 65 days during the hilsa breeding season. If this effort is kept up, the Bay of Bengal will become a rich store of fish.

He added that the 65-day ban on sea fishing ended at 12 midnight on Monday, and fishermen have already gone to sea with all preparations made.

The government banned fishing in the Bay of Bengal for 65 days, from 20 May to 23 July, to protect fish and other valuable aquatic life. The decision followed the success of the ban imposed to stop the catching of jatka (young hilsa). Besides marine fish, the catching of shrimp, crabs and other species was also covered by the ban.

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