Staff Reporter :
The government on Monday imposed a 60-day ban on catching hilsa fish in six hilsa sanctuaries from March 1 to April 30 of the country aiming to conserve Jatka (hilsa fry less than nine inches long).
All kind of fishings will remain banned in all six hilsa sanctuaries in Barishal, Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Bhola, Shariatpur and Patuakhali districts of the country during the period.
“Each fisherman will get 40kg VGF rice per month during the banning period. The total number of fishermen in six hilsa sanctuary districts are 2,94,544,” said District Fisheries Officer of the department of fisheries Masud Ara Momi (Hilsa) told The New Nation on Monday.
Disaster and Relief Ministry has already allocated over 19.5 tonnes of VGF rice for the fishermen.
According to Masud Ara Momi, “mobile courts and awareness programmes will be conducted during the period. Besides, alternate employment facilities are also taken for the fishermen during the banning period.”
Hilsa has the highest contribution to the country’s fish production comprising 12 per cent or 0.55 million tonnes, she added.
The country has adopted a hilsa conservation porgramme a decade ago under which fishing ban is imposed in major hilsa sanctuaries during laying egg and also during the period of growing of baby hilsa.
The sanctuaries are 100km area of the lower basin of the River Meghna – from Shatnal of Chandpur to Char Alexander of Lakhsmipur; 90km area of Shahbazpur tributary of the River Meghna – from Modonpur/Char Ilsha to Char Pial of Bhola district; about a 100km area of the River Tentulia – from Bheduria of Bhola to Char Rustam of Patuakhali; 20km area of the River Padma – located between Naria and Vedharganj upazilas of Shariatpur and Matlab upazila of Chandpur; and about 82km area of rivers Kalabadar, Gazaria and Meghna flowing through Hijla, Mehendiganj and Barishal Sadar upazilas of Barishal.
Bangladesh has the world’s largest delta, and is crisscrossed by big rivers and their tributaries and distributaries. These huge, inland, sweet water bodies together with the expanse of saline water in the Bay of Bengal provide the basis for a large and diversified fisheries sector.
Fisheries have always played an integral role in the lives of the people of Bangladesh.
It is more ancient than the profession of agriculture itself. The fisheries sector of Bangladesh contributes 3.69 per cent to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and fish accounts for 60 per cent of national animal protein consumption. The sector also plays an important role in rural employment generation and poverty alleviation.
In the coastal zone of Bangladesh around 0.5 million (family members 2.7 million) household’s primary income source is fishing.
