Chandpur representative: Today, Sunday (April 30), fishermen are ready to catch hilsa at midnight. To protect Hilsa, the two-month (March–April) ban on fishing in the 70-km area of the Padma-Meghna river in Chandpur ends at midnight.
It is known that most of the people in the district earn their living by fishing and farming. Most of the fishermen use Gultizal to catch Hilsa and other fish. But a class of unscrupulous fishermen flouted the prohibition and extracted jatka by netting the forbidden current. From March 1 to April 28, 371 people were jailed and sentenced to various terms for catching jatkas in violation of the law.
Meanwhile, after being unemployed for two months, fishermen have prepared by repairing boats and nets. On the surface, fishermen were seen spending time busy in net and boat repair in Anand Bazar, Tilabari area of the city, Puran Bazar Ranagoal, shops, Sakhua, Bahria, Harina Machghat, and Akher Hat area. Some people come from different places just to repair nets at this time.
About 44,000 registered fishermen of the district will come down to the sea boundary from Shatanal of Matlab Uttar Upazila to Charbhairavi of Haimchar Upazila. However, the fishermen have complained about the implementation of the ban given by the government to protect Jatka. The District Task Force demanded that maximum efforts to protect Jatka continue.
Shahjahan Rhari, jailer of the Sakhua area, said that we obey the government’s order not to catch Jatka. But fishermen from Munshiganj and Shariatpur came and caught most of the jatkas. That’s why we don’t get any fish when the expedition is over. Workers have to pay money for buying new nets and repairing boats by taking out loans. After that, if there are no fish in the river, a very bad situation is created.
Another fisherman named Delwar Hossain said the amount of support we get during the ban Nothing happens with it. In the present market condition, the cost of goods is so high that it becomes impossible to meet the expenses of children’s education.
Bahria area jail Shahjahan Khan said that the instructions given by the government to increase the production of hilsa are not properly implemented. Law enforcement needs to be tougher. As if no fisherman could go down to the river. We invest millions of rupees. People from outside came and took Jatka away. There will be no gain from this campaign.
OC of Chandpur Naval Police Station. Kamruzzaman said, I have been conducting the campaign since the beginning of the campaign to protect Jatka. In these operations, we arrested 400 fishermen while catching jatka. About 39 cases have been registered in these incidents.
Chandpur District Fisheries Officer Golam Mehedi Hasan said that the district and upazila task force continued to make all-out efforts to implement the two-month ban given by the government to protect hilsa. The district administration, public representatives, fisheries department, coast guard, and naval police all worked together to make this operation successful. Even then, some unscrupulous fishermen have harvested fish. As a result, 347 cases were registered and 371 prisoners were arrested during the operation. It is hoped that the production of hilsa will increase as a result of this campaign. Fishermen refraining from harvesting fish during the campaign will benefit from this. This year, 40 kg of food aid for 4 months has been given so that the fishermen do not suffer.
