Fishermen have taken preparation to resume fishing as two-month-long ban on catching, selling, transporting and hoarding delicious hilsa fish will end on Saturday at midnight.
Fishermen in different districts including Chandpur are preparing their fishing nets and trawlers to start catching hilsa in the rivers after 12am.
A festive mood is prevailing among fishermen as around 52,000 fishermen will resume fishing from midnight.
Like previous years, the ban was imposed on a 70-km-long area from Matlab Uttar Shatnol to the Haimchar Charbhairabi area in Chandpur and 44,035 fishermen got government aid.
During a reality check at Ananda Bazar, Harina, Bahria, Lakshmipur in Sadar upazila on Saturday, the UNB correspondent found fishermen are taking preparation to go for fishing and already they have repaired their fishing boats.
Imam Hossain Bepari, 62, a fisherman, said the movement of hilsa has declined due to hidden chars in the river.
Golam Mehedi Hasan, an officer of the fisheries department, said this year, the production of hilsa may increase.
Earlier, a two-month government ban on hilsa catching, selling, hoarding and transporting began on March 1, with a view to boosting its production.
The ban covers hilsa sanctuaries in six districts -- Barisal, Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Bhola, Shariatpur and Patuakhali.
The sanctuaries are 100km in the Meghna River from Chandpur’s Shatnol to Lakshmipur's Char Alexander, 90km in Shahbazpur Channel in Bhola, 100km in Tentulia River in Bhola, 20km in Naria and Bhederganj upazilas in Chandpur district and 82km in Hizla, Mehendiganj and Barisal Sadar upazilas, Gazaria and the Meghna river.
Hilsa has the highest contribution to the country's fish production as the single fish species.