Twelve fishermen were detained in a drive on the Meghna river in Raipur, Lakshmipur, on the very first day of the ban on catching hilsa. Five thousand metres of China duari net and four boats were seized. The nets were later burned.
The drive was carried out jointly on Thursday by the upazila fisheries office and members of the Bangladesh Coast Guard’s Raipur station in the Azgar Saudagar’s Char area of the Meghna.
The detained fishermen are Billal Mal, 52; Khokon, 38; Hriday Gain, 30; Abul Kalam, 39; Mohammad Ali, 40; Md Rasel, 18; Monir Mijhi, 32; Sabuj Howlader, 36; Abdul Jabbar, 37; Kadir Sardar, 50; and Taslim, 28.
One minor was released on a bond.
The five thousand metres of China duari net seized in the drive were destroyed by fire. The fisheries office said action over the four boats would be taken according to the law.
Fisheries office sources said that for the main hilsa breeding season the government has banned the catching, transport, storage, marketing, buying, selling and exchange of hilsa and all other fish for 22 days, from 8 October to 29 October. The fisheries office and the coast guard have stepped up drives on the Meghna to enforce the ban.
Raipur upazila fisheries officer Mahfuzul Hasnain said: “Legal action has been taken against the detained fishermen under the fish conservation law. A total of Tk 22,000 has been collected from them in fines of Tk 2,000 each. A minor was released on a bond.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report