The government has imposed an 11-day ban in October each year on catching all kinds of fish in the rivers and estuaries of 14 districts in the country along with four hilsa spawning grounds for ensuring safe breeding of mother hilsa. The fisheries and livestock ministry on November 27 imposed the ban through amending the Protection and Conservation of Fish Rules-1985. Department of Fisheries officials said that catching all kinds of fish in the hilsa spawning grounds and in the rivers and estuaries would remain prohibited from three days before and seven days after the first full moon including the day of full moon in the Bangla month of Ashwin (October) each year.
The measure has been taken to increase hilsa production through protecting mother hilsa and providing safe breeding process, they said.
The 11-day is identified as the peak spawning period, they said.
The districts are Chandpur, Laxmipur, Noakhali, Feni, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barisal, Barguna, Pirojpur, Jhalkathi, Bagerhat and Shariatpur, they said.
According to the rules, the four hilsa spawning grounds are Mayani point at Mirsarai (Chittagong), Paschim Syed Awlia point at Tajimuddin (Bhola), North Kutubdia point (Cox’s Bazar) and Lata Chapali point in Kalapara (Patuakhali).
Earlier in October this year, the government imposed a ban from October 5 to October 15 on netting, selling, transporting, carrying and possessing of hilsa in the peak spawning period across the country.
Earlier, there was a ban on only catching hilsa fish in the hilsa breeding grounds but fishermen could catch other fish, a high official of the DoF told New Age on Saturday.
Fishermen illegally caught mother hilsa fish along with other fish.
The official said hilsa production would increase because of the restriction as no one would be allowed to go to the rivers and estuaries for catching any kind of fish for 11 days.
Though there are only four identified hilsa spawning grounds in the country but the fish is found more or less in all the rivers in these 14 districts, he added.
Any fish caught and gears used for fishing in contravention of the rules will be seized and forfeited, he said.
According to the existing law, there are also five hilsa sanctuary areas in lower Meghna, Shahbazpur channel, Tetulia, Andhermanik and lower Padma river in the country and the government imposed ban on fishing of any kind of fish in four sanctuaries, except Andhermanik, for two months from March to April.
In Andhermanik River, catching fish is banned from November to January each year.
The government has some rehabilitation alternative income generation programmes for fishermen of those areas.
Hilsa production doubled in last one decade to 3.85 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 from two lakh tonnes in 2003-04, according to the fisheries ministry.
-With New Age input
