Home ›› 26 Jul 2022 ›› Nation
With rafts and nets for catching fish, Hilsa hunters started netting from early Sunday in the Bay of Bengal and its adjoining rivers, near Sundarbans after the 65 days ban on fishing in the rivers and the sea across the country.
Local sources said Cox’s Bazar coast now sees netting of good amount of Hilsa, much to the happiness of around 63,000 fishermen who had remained virtually jobless during the last two months.
During a visit to Nuniachhata ghat, the main wholesale fish market in Cox’s Bazar town, this correspondent saw about 50 trawlers busy selling hilsa to the wholesalers.
Although the place remained desolate for a long period of 65 days, the fish landing centre has once again been seeing a large congregation of fishermen and traders every day since Sunday, when the ban came to an end.
No one there seemed out of breath. Some were busy breaking the ice and others arranging the fish. Then the ilish were being sent off to different markets in and around the district, including Dhaka and Chattogram.
Osman Gani Tutul, president of the Cox’s Bazar Fishermen’s Association, said around 63,000 registered fishermen have started their journey towards Bay to catch Hilsha fish after 65 days ban.
Mostaq Ahmed, organising secretary of the Cox’s Bazar Fishing Boat Owners’ Association, said there are about 10,000 small and large fishing boats and trawlers engaged in fishing.
Now trawlers are returning with catches of 5,000 to 10,000 pieces of hilsa each and it sells for Tk 1.5 to 1.8 lakh as 100 pieces (weighing 1 kg) of the fish and weighing from 600 to 900 grams, are selling for Tk 80,000 to 1,00000.
Most of the fish are being loaded into trucks and supplied to different areas of the country including Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet.
If the weather stays favorable, they might fill the country’s shortage of fish and even have some left for export, he added.
Md Hashem, a local fisherman, said he had to live in hardship during the ban but he was happy as he could net a huge number of fish.
Nur Hossen of Ukhiya’s Sonarpara, who has been fishing in the sea for 10 years, said he was at sea for a week and I returned to the coast with the desired amount of fish. This time the fish is being sold at a higher price as they are bigger in size. This is both good for fishermen as well as the boat owners.
The government imposed a ban on catching, selling, hoarding and transportation of Hilsa in the Bay of Bengal and different rivers for 65 days to boost up the Hilsa production through protection of the mother fish during its peak breeding season.
Officials at the Fisheries Department, Bangladesh Navy, Coast Guard, District and upazila administrations, Police and Rapid Action Battalion have conducted drives to prevent Hilsa fishing during the period.
Executive Magistrates have also conducted mobile courts and punished a number of fishermen who violated the ban.
The fishermen have already floated their trawlers to the rivers from the dockyard. They have also loaded their daily essentials to those in the trawlers as they have to pass few days in the deep sea during the fishing season, they said.
Families of fishermen in South-Western districts were busy to prepare their boats, nets and other materials to start their voyage to catch fish.
