20 fishermen held for violating hilsa ban

A mobile court arrested 20 fishermen along with current nets, fishing boats and hilsa for violating the government’s ongoing 22-day ban on hilsa fishing by conducting separate drives in different points of Padma and Meghna rivers here in the last 12 hours.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Chandpur Naval Station Md Kamruzzaman said a total of 20 fishermen were arrested with 103 kgs of mother hilsa, eight fishing boats and 1.22 lakh metres of banned current nets during the drives in the river Padma and Meghna in the district.

The mobile court sentenced six fishermen to 10 days imprisonment each and 10 fishermen were sent to jail with filing a case and the rest four juveniles were released as they were minors, he said.

The government has imposed a 22-day ban starting from October 7 on catching, selling, storing and transporting Hilsa, to ensure the safe spawning of hilsa, during its peak breeding period.

The seized boats and nets were destroyed and 50 kgs of hilsa has been stored in cold storage and the rest of the 53 kgs of hilsa has been distributed.