183 fishers jailed in Chandpur for catching hilsa during the 22-day ban; 646 detained in total

In Chandpur, 183 fishers have been sentenced to various jail terms and fined for catching hilsa in defiance of the law during the 22-day ban on the Padma-Meghna river, imposed to ensure safe breeding of mother hilsa. District and upazila task forces and the river police detained 646 fishers in total.

The figures were learned on Friday morning (30 October) from notices and reports sent by the district fisheries officer's office and Chandpur river police station.

According to the district fisheries office report, from 12 midnight on 8 October to 12 midnight on 29 October the government banned catching, buying, selling, storing and transporting all fish, including hilsa, along roughly 70 kilometres of the Padma-Meghna in Chandpur, from Shatnal in Matlab Uttar upazila to Char Bhairabi in Haimchar.

During the ban, district and upazila task forces ran 238 operations against illegal fishing. Through 72 mobile courts, 183 of the detained fishers were jailed for various terms and fined. Fines collected totalled Tk 396,200.

District fisheries officer Md Fakhrul Islam said 2.753 tonnes of hilsa and 1,201,099 metres of net were seized in the operations. The estimated value of the seized banned nets is Tk 27.18 million. A total of 161 cases were filed over these incidents.

He added that the seized nets were burnt and destroyed, and the seized hilsa was distributed, under the rules, among the local destitute, madrasas and orphanages.

Separately, river police in the Chandpur region detained 463 fishers. Of them, 120 were minors and were released into their guardians' custody on bonds. Regular cases were filed against the remaining 343.

Chandpur river police station officer-in-charge Azmagir Hossain said 3,090,585 metres of current net seized in the operations were kept as case evidence and then burnt and destroyed. In addition, 77 fishing boats remain seized.

The OC added that 1.320 tonnes of hilsa recovered by the river police were distributed among the local destitute, madrasas and orphanages. The river police filed 132 cases in total, including two over attacks on river police.

With the ban over, from 12 midnight on Thursday (29 October) about 44,000 registered fishers of the district have gone out on the Padma-Meghna to catch hilsa and other fish.