Fishing in Rangamati's Kaptai Lake will resume on Thursday midnight after the end of a ban of more than four months imposed by the local administration to boost fish production.
Though such a ban is enforced usually for three months, this year's ban lasted for 132 days due to drop in water level of the lake due to the lack of rain.
Beginning the ban on April 20 it was scheduled to end on July 19 but the authorities extended the ban period twice.
The decision to withdraw the ban was taken at a meeting presided over by Rangamati Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Mosaraf Hossain Khan on Thursday.
The fishermen and traders hope that a good quantity of fish will be caught from the lake stretching 715 square km this year due to suspension of fishing for a long time.
According to Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC), due to lack of rainfall breeding of mother fish and growth of spawn was hampered this year.
As a result, the authorities extended the ban period by 42 more days more against normal three-month ban.
Visiting several fishing villages, the UNB’s Rangamati correspondent found that the fishermen were passing busy time to complete their last minute preparation.
Matilal Das of Natun fishing village hoped that they are all set to catch fish after a long time and hoped that big size fish will be netted.
He said they had a bad time during the ban period as they did not get sufficient support from the government.
Udoyan Barua, general secretary of Rangamati District Fish Merchant Association, said fish-carrying boats and trawlers will be allowed to land at ghats till 12 am on the first few days of fishing.
Ashraful Islam Bhuiyan, manager of Rangamati marketing centre at BFDC, said they have completed all preparations including renovation of ghats after holding a meeting with fishermen.
