Fishery Dept seizes hilsha, illegal nets

The Department of Fisheries has been continuing a drive at different points of the Padma and Jamuna rivers to protect the mother hilsha and its spawning.

District Fisheries Officer Sayfur Rahman said about 66 special drives and seven mobile courts were conducted in different areas of Harirampur, Shibalaya and Daulatpur areas in the district so far from the beginning of the ban on catching hilsha fish.

DFO said a total of 15 kgs of hilsha were seized in the district, and 5,000 metres of the illegal current net, including three fishing boats, were destroyed at the cost of Tk 3.44 lakh during the drives. Tk 1000 was realized as a fine from a fisherman for violating the government-imposed rule.

The government already distributed 160 tonnes of rice under the VGF programme among 8000 fishermen families in the three upazilas of the district as food assistance to reduce their sufferings during the banning period, the sources added.