A 58-day ban on all types of fishing in the Bay of Bengal begins at midnight tonight to protect marine biodiversity and ensure uninterrupted breeding of 475 fish species, the government announced on Wednesday.
The ban will remain in effect until 11 June.
Previously, the government had imposed a 65-day ban from 20 May to 23 July each year under the Marine Fisheries Ordinance. While the restriction initially applied only to industrial fishing trawlers, it was extended to all coastal engine-powered trawlers and boats in 2019.
However, Bangladeshi fishermen had long complained that while they observed the ban, fishermen from neighbouring countries would enter Bangladeshi waters and fish freely.
In response to these longstanding demands, the government rescheduled the ban period last year, reducing it by seven days to 58 days to align with India’s fishing ban calendar. The new period, from 15 April to 11 June, was notified on 11 March last year and has been maintained for this year as well.
To protect the livelihoods of fishermen during the ban, the government will provide special assistance. A total of 3,11,062 sea-going fishermen across 67 upazilas in 14 coastal districts and the Chattogram metropolitan area will receive rice as food aid under the VGF programme at the rate of 40 kilograms per month for the 58-day period.
