Fifty-nine fishermen have been sentenced to jail for different terms in Barisal division in three days for violating a ban on catching, selling, hoarding and transporting ilish fish.
Mohammad Nasir Uddin, assistant director of the local fisheries department, said they were fined a total of Tk67,000.
Besides, more than 255,500 metres of illegal fishing nets were seized. The market value of the seized nets is Tk58.61 lakh, sources at the Barisal district fisheries office said.
A total of 109 mobile courts conducted 319 raids and seized some 698kg of ilish, the sources said.
The government has imposed a 22-day ban on catching, selling, hoarding and transporting of ilish–effective from October 11 to November 2–to protect the safe spawning of the fish during its peak breeding period.
The program aims to provide a safe spawning environment for ilish throughout a 7,000-square-kilometre breeding ground in the country. During this period, 307,841 affected fishermen's families in the Barisal division will receive 25kg of rice each.
