Although catching spawning hilsa is banned, an open hilsa market has sprung up on the Padma bank at Zajira in Shariatpur, drawing crowds of buyers. On Monday (12 October) hilsa was on sale at several spots in the morning and on the bank at Bilashpur at midday, while fishermen worked the river in boats and trawlers, Amar Desh reports.
Locals say spawning hilsa are being caught in defiance of the ban at Palerchar, Kathuria, Majhirghat Zero Point, Naodoba, Bilashpur, Poilan Molla, Borokandi and other points on the Padma. Some fishermen fit powerful 'fighter engines' to their boats, catch fish and sell them openly on the bank.
To protect hilsa breeding, catching, transporting, storing, marketing and selling hilsa is banned nationwide for 22 days from 8 to 29 October.
Zajira's upazila fisheries officer (additional charge) Fatema Tuz Zohra said the fisheries department has no speedboat of its own, and shortages of staff, equipment and logistics make regular drives on the Padma difficult. The upazila fisheries office said each of Zajira's 3,376 fishermen is receiving 25 kg of VGF rice during the ban.
Zajira upazila nirbahi officer Al Imran said drives are continuing, with eight people detained and cases filed and several trawlers seized, but illegal fishing has not been stopped entirely.
Photo: Gouriband / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Amar Desh
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