hilsha breeding
A 20-square kilometre area down stream of the river Padma in Shariatpur district will be declared as a sanctuary for hilsha breeding. Fisheries and livestock minister Abdul Latif Biswas announced this in Dhaka on Sunday.
The nation will observe Jhatka Week between April 4 and April 10. The fisheries minister will inaugurate the week on April 5 from Patuakhali.
Addressing a press briefing on the occasion of ‘Hilsha fries (Jhatka) conservation week’ held at the fisheries department, the minister said, there are four hilsha sanctuaries in the country.
The sanctuaries comprise downstream of the river Meghna from Shatnal of Chandpur to Laxmipur consisting of 100 square kms, from Madanpur Char Ilisha of Bhola to its channels at Shahbazpur of 90 square kms, 100 square kms of the river Tetulia from Bheduria of Bhola to Char Rustam of Patuakhali and 40 square kms of the river Andharmanik at Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali.
The minister said, the lengths of the sanctuaries of hilsha breeding grounds in four districts, consisting of areas in 21 upazilas are 330 squre kms. Of them, hilsha fishing are prohibited in Chandpur, Laxmipur and Bhola districts from March to April, and Patuakhali districts from November to January.
The government has taken alternative employment for the fishermen for conservation of hilsha fish, the minister said, adding, the government has been providing food assistance to fishermen through different programmes.
He said, at least 2.85 lakh tonnes of hilsha fish were caught in the first seven months of the current fiscal.The total hilsha catch would come to 3.5 lakh tonnes at the end of the fiscal,the minister noted.
He further said, the government has earned Tk 280 crore by exporting 6,898 tonnes of hilsha till February of the current fiscal year. The amount was Tk 125 crore in the previous year, he added.
Courtesy of The Independent
