Mohiuddin Jewel, Chattogram
After the two-month government ban for the breeding of hilsa, Chattogram fishermen’ joy of netting hilsa in the Bay of Bengal has started again.
After a total of 65 days, from May 19 to July 23, the ban was lifted on Friday. But, the weather was not favourable to catch fish on that day.
According to the Department of Marine Fisheries, the target has been set to catch 6 lakh tonnes of hilsa this year. This time the breeding of hilsa has been good as the fishermen have maintained the two-month ban properly.
There are 298,595 fishermen officially registered in the whole country along 30 commercial trawlers and 32,000 mechanical fishing boats.
Meanwhile, even though they could not go to sea to catch fish, the necessary equipment, materials and food items have started to be lifted in trawlers since Friday.
Preparations for nets and fishing trawlers at various wharves on the banks of the Karnaphuli are almost over. Most of the fishing trawlers have already completed their preparations for fishing in the sea.
They also expressed their hope and said fishing will start in full swing once the sea condition calms down. This time, the officials of the Department of Marine Fisheries have taken the target of catching 6 lakh metric tonnes of hilsa.
According to the met office, it will rain continuously from July 27 to July 29. Due to the light pressure, the air pressure varied in the North Bay and adjoining coastal areas.
Niranjan Jaldas, a fisherman of Halishahar in Chittagong, told Bangladesh Post that his family of four is completely dependent on fishing.
‘Now, I can catch fishes again. The sorrow will be minimized soon. I will go to the sea when the sea is calm,’’ Niranjan said.
When contacted, Fishery Ghat Sonali Mechanical Fisheries Cooperative Society President Mohammed Ali told Bangladesh Post that the fishermen returned from the sea with fish and the fishery ghat became active again after the government ban.
