The government has imposed a ban on fishing, selling, hoarding and transportation of all types of fish in the hilsa habitats of the Padma and the Meghna from October 12 to November 2. Flouting the 22-day ban would result in fines and imprisonment, said District Fisheries Officer Shafikur Rahman. The annual ban, usually 15-day long, has been extended this year for ensuring safe spawning of hilsa during its peak breeding season, said Anisur Rahman, chief scientific officer at Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute in Chandpur. The ban has been extended as researchers found that spawning hilsas were caught before and after the 15-day ban in the last few years, Anis explained. Shoals of mother hilsas start swimming upstream from the sea towards the rivers, weeks before the full moon in October (Ashwin in Bengali calendar), and they return to the sea after spawning, he added. The government has been imposing fishing bans since 2003-04 to protect mother hilsas. The catch of hilsa rose significantly this year due to the successful implementation of ban over the last couple of years, said Shafikur, fisheries officer in Chandpur.
2016 / thedailystar.net