31 fishermen held

A naval police team during an overnight drive on Saturday arrested 31 fishermen along with boats, 75 kgs of mother hilsa and 55 lakh metres current nets from the Padma and Meghna rivers for defying the government’s ongoing 22-day ban on hilsa fishing.

Superintendent of police Mohammad Kamruzzaman said eight boats, 55 lakh metres of banned current nets and 75 kgs of hilsa were seized during the drive.

The seized nets were destroyed and the seized Hilsa has been distributed among the orphanages in the area, he added.

The government has imposed a 22-day ban starting from October 4 on catching, selling, storing and transporting of Hilsa, to ensure safe spawning of the Mother Hilsa, during its peak breeding period.

The executive magistrate sentenced the arrested fishermen to jail in various terms, sources said.