UNB, Chandpur :
Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard conducted 353 anti-jatka netting drives in the district in the last two months.
During the period, the Coast Guard members seized jatka (hilsa fry less than 10 inches), mother hilsa, huge current nets, fishing nets, boats, pick-up vans and covered vans worth Tk90.82 crore, said a press release on Sunday.
Coast Guard station commander Lieutenant Colonel Habibur Rahman said during the drives they seized 1,94,65,000 metres of current nets worth Tk68.12 crore, 36,04, 000 metres of fishing nets worth Tk 21.62 crore and 11,160 kgs of jatka and mother hilsa worth Tk 39.18 lakh, the release added.
Besides, the Coast Guard members also detained 159 fishermen from different parts of the district including Chandpur, sadar upazila, Matlab North upazila and Haimchar upazila for catching jatka and hilsa from the Meghna and Padma rivers.
However, they were sentenced to different terms of jail and fined when they were produced before the mobile courts.
Besides, the Coast Guard members also seized 38 engine boats and fishing boats worth Tk27.45 lakh, five speed boats worth Tk25 lakh, two pickups and covered vans worth Tk 16 lakh, used for carrying jatka from Chandpur to other places.
The government imposed a ban on catching, storing, transporting and selling of jatka in 120 kilometer area of Chandpur district in the Padma and Meghna rivers for two months (March-April) for increasing hilsa resources in the country.
