Fishermen are reportedly violating the government-imposed 11-day ban on netting hilsa fish, with separate drives seizing illegally caught hilsa and slapping fines on fishermen who were in violation of the restrictions.
In Noakhali, a joint drive by the Noakhali district fisheries office and upazila administration managed to seize around 25kg of hilsa and jatka fish (hilsa fry) at Maijdee Bazar on Sunday.
District Fisheries officer Bilkis Tahmina however informed that the traders, who were selling the fish illegally, managed to flee the scene.
Anyone found guilty of catching mother hilsa and/or jatka would be punished with up to two years in prison or a fine of Tk5,000, said the Noakhali district fisheries officer Bilkis Tahmina.
An 11-day ban imposed by the government on the netting, selling, marketing and importing of hilsa fish – came into effect on Sunday, aiming to boost hilsa production by ensuring safe spawning and protecting mother hilsas.
Elsewhere in Bhola, a mobile court fined eight fishermen Tk5,000 each, on charges of catching mother hilsa on the Meghna River in Manpura upazila.
Police said the eight fishermen were held while catching mother hilsa in the river in the morning. Two trawlers along with 250 hilsas and 1,100 metres of current nets were also seized, reports UNB.
Later, a mobile court, led by Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdullah Al Baki, slapped the fine on them for defying the ban on the catching of mother hilsa.
The fishermen who were fined are Nur Mohammad, 24, Mohammad Jewel, 24, Mohammad Sahabuddin, 46, Mohammad Kamal, 28, Mohammad Samsuddin, 26, Mohammad Rafijal Majhi, 48, Moslehuddin, 46, and Mohammad Malek Majhi, 38.
The mobile court also destroyed the current nets at Hazirhat Bazar.
Meanwhile, the fishing restriction has made lives harder for at least 26,000 fishermen of Chandpur, who have no other alternative occupation and have not received any relief from the government.
Local fishermen alleged that the authorities had imposed a ban during full moon, which was the right time for catching hilsa.
Chandpur District Fisheries Officer Roton Datta however said the ban was effective during the full moon in the Bangla month of Ashwin according to the Fish Protection and Conservation of Fish Act.
The restriction aims to protect mother hilsa and achieve the target production of 16,000 tonnes, Roton also said.
Dr Anisur Rahman, a hilsa specialist at Chandpur Fish Research Institute, said mother hilsa could lay between 300,000 and 2m eggs during hilsa reproduction season.
Abdullah Al Hassan, a fisheries officer at Noakhali, said swarms of mother fish move to Meghna, as well as other rivers and estuaries to lay eggs during the breeding season. “It is extremely important that fishermen do not catch fish during this time,” he added.
A source at the fisheries department in Noakhali said the administration had asked the local office of Power Development Board and Rural Electrification Board to disconnect power connection to all ice factories, which are used for preserving fish, until the restriction was lifted.
The fisheries department has taken elaborate preparations to make effective the ban, which was imposed on the coastal districts.
Officials are campaigning with megaphones, leaflets and by organising exhibitions to create awareness on the importance of the ban, which is slated to finish on October 23.
Through the move, the government is expecting to prevent roughly 15m mother hilsas from being caught prematurely and millions of eggs from being destroyed. Around 7,000km stretch of spawning grounds across the coastal belt had been marked, on which the netting ban would be effective.
Coastguards, navy and other departments remain vigilant during the ban period to check potential breaches of the order.