Manjur Morshed Tuhin, Patuakhali

Prawn killing festival is going on in every river of Kalapara upazila including the sea adjacent to the Kuakata beach in violation of the government ban.

Under the nose of the administration, local fishermen are killing more than a hundred species of marine fish while harvesting prawns. A few crores of rupees worth of prawns are sold every day in some local markets.

On the spot, it is seen that at the local level, fishermen of different ages along the coast of Kuakata Sea are using a special type of net to collect Renu Pona in the sea adjacent to the beach. At least 5-8 people pull the net every two kilometers. Hundreds of species of renu are being caught in the nets, including shrimp renu Pona. Except for the shrimp renu, the rest is thrown away.

Each person can extract 5-7 thousand shrimp renu every morning and afternoon. A group of hawkers collects renu from fishermen and sells it in several places including Alipur, Mohipur, Hajipur, Lata Chapli, Bablatla Bazar. From those markets, traders supply to different districts of the country including Gopalganj, Khulna, Bagerhat. They use river trawlers and road pick-up vans, medium-sized trucks and microbuses for highly stealthy transportation.

It is also learnt that prawn is bought, sold and transported very secretly due to the prohibition of extraction. However, this illegal trade is safe with the help of some unscrupulous people in the administration. The administration is not able to control this illegal business even by directly complaining and informing the administration about the extraction of illegal Renu in various newspapers. The government offices of some important administrative areas to transport by water or land safely do this illegal work.

This illegal renu collection and buying and selling started in the past days in the Awami misrule, but even after the fall of the government on August 5, it is still being managed by some dishonest officials of the administration. Right from the beginning, the culprits of fascism are still carrying on this renu buying and selling, but they are supported by government and political figures.

Kalapara UNO Md. Rabiul Islam said, I have not seen anything like this in Kuakata area. I am investigating if the rivers around Kalapara are anything like that. If we catch this cycle, we will take legal action. In the upazila administration meeting there was a discussion about the catch and I requested the fisheries officer to kill them but no operation has been carried out yet.

Patuakhali District Fisheries Senior Assistant Director Pradeep Kumar Sarkar said that the campaign to seize illegal nets including chargara, behuti, net nets is ongoing so that all types of small fish including renu pona cannot be caught. The fourth phase of the combined operation is underway by the Directorate of Fisheries, Coast Guard and Naval Police. Special operations are ongoing throughout the year to control all illegal activities related to buying and selling of shrimp renu.