In Chandpur fishermen are tactical & traders are reckless in mother-hilsa hunting .Mother hilsha hunting did not stop even after the administration’s operation in Chandpur. Ignoring the government’s ban, a class of unscrupulous fishermen are constantly fishing in the river during the breeding season. Along with the tendency to disobey the law, the killing of Mother-Hilsa is going on due to the activities of influential quarters in different areas. As a result, getting enough hilsa this year could be a threat.
District Task Force Committee members conducted a total of 66 raids from October 14 to 18 and arrested 100 fishermen. Of these, 84 fishermen have been sentenced to various terms by the mobile court and sent to jail. The remaining 16 were fined a total of Tk. 42,000. During the operation, 709 kg of hilsa and 16.61 lakh meters of current nets were seized from them. A total of 26 cases have been registered in this incident.
The government has banned the catching of hilsa from October 14 to November 04 as the breeding season for hilsa. Under the ban, the procurement, storage, sale and supply of all kinds of fish, including about 90 km of hilsa, is prohibited from Shatnal in Matlab North Upazila of Chandpur to Charbhairabi in Haimchar Upazila. Anyone violating the law is liable to imprisonment for one to two years, a fine of Tk. 5,000 or both. The district administration, coastguard, naval police and fisheries department, 10 teams of the district taskforce have been conducting regular operations on the river.
Going to the ground, it can be seen that the fishing festival has started in the char areas around the Padma-Meghna in Chandpur. Fishermen have become reckless in the river by disobeying the ban. The killing of hilsa is going on freely without heeding the jail-fines and even the government ban. Fishermen are taking turns to hunt hilsa day and night. Unscrupulous fish traders are selling hilsa freely in various bushes and markets of the village. Many traders have also become reckless. Children are being used to sell and catch mother hilsa to avoid legal trouble.
From noon to evening on Sunday, they are going from house to house in Anandabazar, Safarmali, Kherudia, Banglabazar, Bishnupur, Rajarajeswar and selling Mother-Hilsa. On the same day, 47 fishermen including 118 kg of mother-hilsa were detained in 16 raids in the river. During this time 9.04 lakh meters of current net was seized. The mobile court sentenced 39 of the detainees to various terms and sent them to jail. The remaining eight fishermen were fined Tk. 20,000.
Chandpur Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Abdullah Al Mahmud Zaman led an operation in the Padma-Meghna at noon on Saturday (October 18). During the operation, when the Chandpur old market came close to Ranagoal area, the district administration started throwing brickbats at the speedboat. Besides, unscrupulous fishermen prepared to attack with local weapons by boat. At one stage, the expedition team left thinking about security.
According to the locals, hilsa is being hunted all night in the breeding area. In many areas, unscrupulous fishermen have taken a new approach to hunting hilsa, ignoring the ban. They are now using children to hunt hilsa to escape from jail-fines. Because the administration is not able to punish the children considering their age.
Chandpur District Fisheries Officer Asadul Baki said some unscrupulous fishermen were fishing in several isolated places. The district administration and the police are always working on the river. In addition, a mobile court comprising the Coast Guard is conducting operations. He added that so far 84 fishermen have been detained in the river and sent to jail after being sentenced to different terms by a mobile court. Every day, 10 teams of the district taskforce are conducting alternate operations on the river.
Chandpur Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Abdullah Al Mahmud Zaman said the fishermen were easily hiding in the bushes of the char as the water level was high. In addition, they began to adopt different strategies. Reckless fishermen are not hesitating to attack now. If we all take a little extra responsibility from our position, it will be possible to stop the killing of mother hilsa.
News room, October 19,2020