12 fishermen held

A joint team of mobile court in separate drives arrested 12 fishermen along with Current Jal and hilsa in the from Padma and Meghna in Shariatpur on Saturday.

According to the district fisheries offices, a total of 12 fishermen were arrested with 227 kgs of mother hilsa and 3.86 lakh metres of banned Current Jal during the drives.

The mobile court sentenced 11 fishermen to one-year imprisonment each and one fisherman fined 5,000 for defying the government’s ongoing a 22-day ban on hilsa fishing.

The joint team of mobile court includes officials of Fisheries Department, District Administration, Upazila Administration and members of the law enforcement forces.

District Fisheries Officer Pranab Kumar Karmakar said the seized nets were destroyed and the hilsa has been distributed to the orphanages, madrasas and poor people in the area.

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

Mobile court in separate drives arrested 37 fishermen along with Current Jal and hilsa on 19 October from Padma and Meghna in the district.

The mobile court in separate drives arrested 29 fishermen along with Current Jal and hilsa on October 16 from the rivers.