FisheriesAs a 22-day ban begins on 70 km of the Padma and Meghna, fishermen and traders say it will fall short unless linked canals and estuaries are watched and boats from Shariatpur and Munshiganj are kept out.
FisheriesDistrict fisheries figures show hilsa production in Cox's Bazar fell by about 20.5 percent in 2025-26; officials blame climate change, silted rivers and overfishing.
FisheriesSpeakers at a BMU meeting said hilsa output fell from 571,000 tonnes in 2022-23 to 500,000 in 2024-25; focal persons, landing-site awareness drives and joint research were agreed.
FisheriesA one-kilogram hilsa that cost Tk 2,500 two weeks ago now sells for Tk 2,800-3,000; all fishing in sanctuary areas is banned from 8 to 29 October, the fisheries office says.
FisheriesFor the 22-day ban protecting spawning hilsa, the government has allocated 1,657 tonnes of VGF rice for 646,290 fishing families in 168 upazilas of 38 districts, to be handed out by 8 October.
FisheriesFor the 8-29 October ban, Chandpur will set up five temporary police camps in its 70 km sanctuary, block canal mouths and shut ice factories; 41,390 fishers in the district will get 25 kg of food aid each.
FisheriesAhead of the 8-29 October hilsa fishing ban, some 1,500 seasonal fishers on the Padma-Jamuna chars of Shibalaya, Manikganj are openly preparing boats and nets, and banned current nets are on sale in Aricha bazaar.
FisheriesLate-season hilsa landings have lowered prices in Chandpur, but Department of Fisheries figures show two straight years of falling production, a 22 percent drop in the sea catch, and smaller fish with far fewer carrying eggs.
The national hilsa task force decided that the Mother Hilsa Conservation Drive 2026 will run from 8 to 29 October, with catching, transporting, storing and selling hilsa banned across the country.
AgribusinessOn 29 October 2025 the consumer rights directorate seized 350 kg of rotten hilsa from a trawler from Monpura in Chandpur, buried the fish and fined the trawler's owner Tk 1 lakh.
