Allegations are being raised against a class of unscrupulous fish hunters hunting fish in the middle of the night from the fish enclosures made of tree branches with the help of ultrasonic electric fishing inverters. It has been observed near the Jamuna River and Hurasagar River in the Pechakola, Nakalia, Mohanganj and Char areas of Pabna Bera Upazila.
Locals in the area state that traders import ultrasonic electric fishing inverters or fish shock electric machines from different countries, including China, for fishing. Machines imported from abroad are priced from 9 thousand takas to about 1 lakh taka, depending on the type. Machine importers and traders believe that ultrasonic electric fishing inverter for fishing is not illegal. Sixty-eight thousand to several million watts of electric shock is produced by connecting the ultrasonic inverter with a 12-volt DC battery. According to the power of this electric shock machine, it delivers a few seconds of electric shock within a radius of 5 feet to 40 feet and stuns all kinds of living fish, small and large, in the same area. Small and big fish are being hunted using ultrasonic inverters, canals, and rivers HuraSagar, Bera, Jamuna and Padma.
Wishing anonymity, several fishermen said that near Pechakola, Nakalia, Mohanganj Char Nakalia, Char Nagdah, Char Sandashia villages in Jamuna River and Hurasagar River. A class of local and foreign dishonest fish hunters come to the fishing grounds almost every day late at night and use electric shock in the river with the help of an electric shock machine. Various species of fish swim in the water, becoming unconscious due to the electric shock and floating in the water. They retrieve the fish from the water using nets and fishing hooks. Local fishermen consider fishing with such machines in open water bodies a severe threat to local fish.
Bera Upazila Fisheries Officer Saiful Islam was contacted by Bangladesh Post for more information regarding this issue. He stated, "I have no information that fish are being hunted with such electric shock machines in Bera River, but necessary measures will be taken now that we have received such information."