"We government employees cannot afford to buy and eat hilsa on the salary we get. I myself cannot buy hilsa. Since coming to Patuakhali I have eaten hilsa once in the past month. At current prices, if you ate hilsa every day you would have to go without food the rest of the time. That is why we must raise hilsa production." With these words, Patuakhali deputy commissioner Abu Hasnat Mohammad Arefin asked people not to fish during the main hilsa breeding season.

"If we can stop fishing for these 22 days and not kill jatka, hilsa production will rise and prices will come down. Then ordinary people will be able to buy hilsa again," he said.

He was speaking as chief guest at a views-exchange meeting in the Badhonhara hall room of Patuakhali Sadar upazila parishad on the morning of Thursday, 17 October.

The deputy commissioner also said the government was working to control market prices, and ordinary people must work too. "We must invest in agriculture and raise production. With a little awareness, every family can grow the vegetables it needs at home. In towns, vegetables can also be grown in rooftop gardens," he said.

The meeting was chaired by Patuakhali Sadar upazila nirbahi officer Iffat Ara Zaman Urmi. Officials of various government offices, civil society representatives, politicians, public representatives, journalists and people from other walks of life spoke.

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