After a 22-day government ban, the Meghna and Padma rivers are expected to buzz with activity once again as around 43,000 fishermen in Chandpur is ready to resume hilsa fishing from Saturday midnight.
The annual restriction on catching, selling, and transporting hilsa introduced to protect the species during its breeding period will officially conclude at 12am midnight tonight, bringing relief to fishermen who endured weeks without income, reports United News of Bangladesh (UNB) .
Mirza Omar Faruk, senior fisheries officer of Chandpur Sadar upazila, said authorities closely monitored compliance throughout the restriction.
“The district and upazila task forces were active from day one to ensure that the ban was properly enforced,” he said.
According to Assistant District Fisheries Officer Farhana Akter Ruma, joint teams carried out operations across the river areas to safeguard mother hilsa during the breeding season.
Joint forces comprising the district and upazila administrations, fisheries department, river police, coast guard and the district task force patrolled the 70-kilometre sanctuary area day and night.
Over the 22 days, 64 mobile court drives were conducted, 32 in Sadar upazila, 20 in Haimchar, and 12 in Matlab North and South.
During these drives, officials confiscated nearly two metric tonnes of mother hilsa and destroyed more than 5.5 lakh metres of illegal fishing nets worth approximately Tk 1.37 crore.
In total, 77 cases were filed and 119 fishermen were jailed for violating the government ban.
Authorities also collected Tk 50,000 in fines from offenders, while the confiscated fish were distributed among orphans and the poor.
To ease the burden on those affected, the government supplied 25 kilograms of rice to each registered fisherman as temporary aid.
However, many said the assistance was not enough.
Speaking to UNB on Saturday, fishermen such as Rahim Majhi, Sakib Majhi and Omar Ali from Sadar upazila, along with traders Sirajul Islam, Sheikh Amir Hossain, Yunus Miji and Delwar Hossain Mia from Harina Ferry Ghat, shared their frustration.
“The government should provide cash support along with rice,” said Rahim Majhi.
“We eat a lot of rice — 25 kilos doesn’t last long. If the money was sent to our mobile accounts, there would be no irregularities,” he said.
He further added that allocating “at least Tk 3,000 per person” would have eased the financial strain on families dependent on fishing.
The government had imposed the 22-day ban on fishing in the Padma-Meghna rivers in Chandpur from October 4 to protect mother hilsa and increase future production of the country’s national fish.
Now that the ban has been lifted, a sense of anticipation is sweeping through Chandpur’s riverbanks.
Fishermen are readying their nets and boats, optimistic that the upcoming season will reward their patience with a plentiful catch.
