Thousands of fishing families from Kuakata, Mahipur, Latachapli and other unions in Kuakata Upazila of Patuakhaliare going through various crises.
Thousands of fishermen from the coastal region have been making a living by fishing in the Bay of Bengal for ages. All those fishermen are now facing a major crisis in their lives due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the recent blow ofcyclone Yaas, the newly imposed lockdown as well as the ban on fishing in the sea.
They have been living inhumane lives with their families since the ban on fishing at sea began on May 20, with strict restrictions and penalties, aimed at increasing fish breeding and production. Some of the fishermen are surviving by working as day-labourers, while others are getting trapped in a debt trap. The fishermen as well as their family members are suffering extremely for this.
In the past years, during the ban on fishing at sea, they used to bebusy with various activities around the tourist spots in Kuakata. However, this time the picture is completely different. Most of the working-class people in the region are facing a critical situation as the tourist centers are shut due to corona pandemic. Their life has come to a standstill now.
Fisherman Md Zahirul Islam of Nijshibbaria village under Mahipur Police Station said, all his savings were run-out and he is surviving through borrowing money from others. Earlier, when the ban on fishing in the sea started, he used to work in various tourist spots in Kuakata but, this time he has no chance of doing that. He has lost all his ways to provide food for his family.
A Rahim, a fishmonger from Mahipur said, “We are pasing hard timedue to the Corona situation, the damage caused by the cyclone and theban on fishing. We are in trouble and don't know what to do.”
According to some fishermen in Mombipara of Kuakata, “No fish was found in the sea last year. Moreover, the fishermen are living a hard life with the Corona situation and the ban on fishing in the sea. Even then, the real fishermen do not get the government stimulus properly. Those who are not real fishermen are also getting fishermen cards. We strongly demand that the real fishermen get fishing cards and alternative employment be created for us”.
The fishermen claim that the crisis would have been alleviated if the government had increased the allocation for rehabilitation of the fishermen. Fishermen say they can only fish in the sea and their livelihood solely depends on this job. If fishing is prohibited, the allocation for the banned period should be increased, they added.
According to the Kalapara Upazila Fisheries Office, there are 18,305 registered fishermen in the upazila. Each of the fishermen has already been given 65 and 35 kgs of rice.
Kalapara Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer said that he would try to contact the higher authorities to increase the allocation for the fishermen during the 65-day ban on fishing at the sea.
