Rajbari mother-hilsa drive ends: seized nets and jail sentences both down from last year

The 22-day mother-hilsa conservation drive has ended in Rajbari. According to the district fisheries department, both the amount of illegal net seized and the number of fishers jailed this year were lower than last year. This year 1,655,000 metres of illegal current net were seized and 46 people were jailed for various terms.

District fisheries officer Md Mahbub Ul Haq confirmed the figures on Friday morning (30 October). According to him, 97 operations and 18 mobile courts were conducted in the district during the 22-day drive from 8 to 29 October 2026.

A total of 278 kg of hilsa was seized in those operations. The seized fish were later distributed among orphanages and destitute people, the district fisheries department said.

According to district fisheries sources, 78 cases were filed this year for illegal fishing, and regular cases were filed against 26 people. Alongside jail terms for 46 people, fines of Tk 186,000 were collected. Goods seized were sold at auction for Tk 100,100.

The picture was different in the previous year's drive in 2025. That year 172 operations and 58 mobile courts were conducted in 22 days. A total of 171 fishers were arrested and jailed for various terms for catching hilsa, and river police filed regular cases against 22 people.

In last year's drive, 3,015,000 metres of current net were seized and burnt, with an estimated value of Tk 58.336 million. In addition, 1,118 kg of hilsa were seized and distributed to orphanages. Boats seized were auctioned for Tk 97,000, deposited in the government treasury, and fishers were fined Tk 122,200.

By comparison, the amount of net seized fell by 1,360,000 metres from last year. The number of jailed fishers fell by 125. The numbers of operations and mobile courts also fell.

However, conscious citizens of the district allege that this year the fisheries department conducted the mother-hilsa drive in Rajbari comparatively loosely. They claim hilsa was sold at temporary markets on the riverbank during the ban. They consider such a situation worrying for conserving hilsa in the breeding season, and say that alongside stronger drives on the river, effective steps are also needed to stop fish sales on the riverbank.

District fisheries officer Md Mahbub Ul Haq said that in the first week of the drive, fishers did not go out on the river much because of the current, so net seizures and mobile courts were also fewer. Fishers were mainly active in the middle of the drive, and nets were seized and mobile courts conducted then.

He added that they nevertheless had some limitations, and that the mother-hilsa conservation drive was conducted within those limitations.