22-day ban on hilsa fishing starts on 4 Oct

Catching hilsa will be banned for 22 days from 4 October to 25 October as it is the main breeding season of this year, reports BSS.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the national task force committee on hilsa resource development at the fisheries department's conference room at Matsya Bhaban in the capital Wednesday, a press release said here.

Fisheries and livestock minister SM Rezaul Karim presided over the meeting, the release added. During this time, procurement, marketing, buying, selling, transportation, stocking and exchange of hilsa will be prohibited across the country.

In case of breeding of hilsa, catching all kinds of fish will also be prohibited at this time, the release said, adding that in the interest of safe breeding of hilsa, mother hilsa conservation activities will be implemented at this time.

Additional secretaries of the ministry of fisheries and livestock Shyamol Chandra Karmakar and Md Taufiqul Arif, chairman of Bangladesh fisheries development corporation Kazi Hasan Ahmed, director general of the department of fisheries Kazi Shams Afroz, water resources and rural institutions division chief Md Matiur Rahman and director general (DG) of the Bangladesh fisheries research institute (BFRI) Yahya Mahmud were present, among others, on the occasion.

Rezaul Karim called for a concerted effort to make the 22-day ban on hilsa procurement more successful than last year. He urged the concerned people to do the right thing from their respective places to protect the fisheries sector.

The minister also said that the ministry of fisheries and livestock will take all kinds of responsibilities to protect the fisheries sector.