Chandpur Correspondent

As many as 372 fishermen were arrested by law enforcers in Chandpur for defying the ongoing temporary ban on hilsa fishing for 21 days.

The river police arrested 172 fishermen while 200 fishermen were nabbed by the district and upazila task force.

Farhana Akhtar Ruma, Assistant Fisheries Officer at the district fisheries office, and HM Iqbal, the officer in charge (OC) of Chandpur River Police Station confirmed the matter on Saturday (November 2).

According to a report sent from the district fisheries office, from October 13 to November 2, the district and upazila task force conducted 602 operations in the 70-kilometer conservation area of the Padma-Meghna river, starting from Shatnol of Mathlab North Upazila to Charbhairavi of Haimchar Upazila, day and night. In these operations, 200 fishermen were arrested.

Among them, 158 fishermen were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment by the executive magistrates deployed in the task force through 78 mobile courts, and 42 fishermen were fined a total of Tk 2,28,000.

HM Iqbal, the officer in charge of Chandpur River Police Station, stated that with the assistance of the task force, the river police arrested 172 fishermen in the past 21 days. Among them, 119 were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment by mobile courts, and regular cases were filed against 34 others. Additionally, 19 minors were released on bail.

He also mentioned that in the operations, 18,327,700 meters of current nets, 6,326kg of hilsa, and 49 fishing boats were seized. Of these, seven boats are under police custody, 27 boats were rendered inoperative at the scene, and 15 have been handed over to the fisheries department.

From October 13 to November 3, the government imposed a ban on catching hilsa and all types of fish in the conservation area of the Padma-Meghna river to ensure safe breeding for hilsa. The ban will end at midnight on November 4, after which around 500,000 fishermen from the district will resume fishing for hilsa."