Eight-month ban on catching jatka hilsa begins at midnight
An eight-month ban on catching jatka — juvenile hilsa — in the sea and rivers begins from midnight tonight, Saturday (31 October). The Department of Fisheries has imposed the ban to increase hilsa production.
According to fisheries department sources, from Sunday (1 November) until 30 June, catching, buying and selling, transporting, exchanging or stocking jatka smaller than 10 inches or 25 centimetres will be treated as a punishable offence.
Anyone violating the law faces one to two years of rigorous imprisonment, or a fine of up to five lakh taka, or both.
The Patuakhali district fisheries department said drives would be conducted in the sea and rivers jointly by the district administration, the district fisheries office, the Coast Guard and the river police to protect jatka. However, ahead of the ban, no notable publicity campaign by the Patuakhali district administration has been seen so far.
Kalapara senior upazila fisheries officer Md Zahirunnabi said, “Our drives will run in all the rivers and the sea of the district to protect jatka. The river police, thana police, Coast Guard, navy and the district administration will also conduct drives. We are therefore urging fishers to refrain from killing jatka. Even so, if anyone violates the law, mobile courts will be operated against them.”
He added that during the ban, the district's 79,000 registered fishers will receive 40 kilograms of rice per month for four months under the VGF programme.
