Staff Reporter:
A 22-day ban on catching hilsa across the country will begin from October 8 to ensure safe breeding of the national fish during its peak breeding season.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Taskforce Committee on Hilsa Resource Devel-opment held at the conference room of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock on Tuesday.
Fisheries and Livestock and Agriculture Minister Mohammad Aminur Rashid chaired the meeting yesterday, said a PID handout.
Transportation, storage, marketing, buying, selling and exchange of hilsa will also remain prohibit-ed nationwide during the ban period.
A mother hilsa conservation campaign will be conducted during the period, while fishermen who refrain from fishing will receive food assistance under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) pro-gramme.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister said there would be no compromise in protecting mother hilsa to ensure sustainable production of the fish. “Monitoring and drives must be strengthened in the ma-jor breeding grounds of hilsa including Barishal, Chandpur and Bhola.”
He stressed the need for coordinated efforts by district administrations, river police, Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries to strictly enforce the fishing ban during the breeding season.
“If necessary, additional vessels and logistical support will be provided at the hotspots,” he said.
The minister also called for increased monitoring at ice factories, fish landing stations and markets to prevent the marketing of illegally caught fish.
He directed the authorities concerned to conduct strict drives to remove illegal fishing nets from breeding grounds including the Chandpur confluence.
“There must be no opportunity to catch or market fish during the prohibited period under any cir-cumstances,” he said.
He also expressed hope that continued coordinated efforts by all concerned agencies to protect mother hilsa would help increase hilsa production in the next season.
State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said the reasons behind the de-clining hilsa production must be identified through research.
Emphasising the need to curb illegal fishing nets, the state minister called for effective measures to stop their production and sale.
He also urged fishermen’s representatives to raise awareness among fishermen so that they do not purchase prohibited nets.
The government is providing incentives to fishermen to keep them away from fishing during the ban, he said, adding that monitoring would be strengthened to ensure that the assistance reaches genuine fishermen.
The state minister expressed concern that declining hilsa production had led to the need to import fish from abroad. “The reasons behind this situation need to be identified, and we must work to-gether in a coordinated manner.”
He said an integrated action plan would be formulated in the coming days to protect hilsa as a na-tional resource and a geographical indication (GI) product and to increase its production.
