A section of fishermen are indiscriminately catching different species of fish including fry and mother fish in the haor areas of Sylhet region, as the ban on catching fish in large water bodies was lifted last month after fish, livestock and birds started dying there. Different varieties of fry and mother fish are also being caught with banned nets like mosquito nets and current nets from different areas of Surma, Kushiara, Bashia, Monu, Khowai and other rivers in the area. Experienced fishermen and experts have expressed apprehension as such callous act badly affects overall fish stock. While visiting Hakaluki Haor area and Surma and Kushiara rivers, this correspondent found fishermen catching fry and mother fishes with banned nets. “Newly spawned fish fry feed on the juice of their mothers’ bodies. If the fry and mother fishes are caught in large scale, local fish stock will face threat of extinction,” said Sahodeb Biswas, 65, a fisherman of Chandpur area near Hakaluki Haor in Sylhet’s Fenchuganj upazila. After the water level decreased during the last several days in Hakaluki Haor area in three upazilas of Moulvibazar and two upazilas of Sylhet, fishermen are now catching fry and mother fish daily and selling it in local markets for high prices, said some fishermen. One Murad Ahmed said he bought one kg of fish fry for Tk 390 near Hakaluki Haor in Dakkhinbazar area of Kulaura upazila in Moulvibazar. “Some birds and animals eat small fishes in the rivers and other water bodies. Massive destruction of fry will also cause food crisis for such birds and animals,” said Mohammad Ashraful Kabir, coordinator of ‘Bhumi Sontan Bangladesh, a Sylhet-based environment and animal rights organisation. Different varieties of fish release eggs at different times, especially during March to July, in the shallow parts of rivers and haors and taking the opportunity, a section of fishermen indiscriminately net the fry and mother fishes, said Md Sultan Mahmud, senior fisheries officer in Kulaura upazila. “Rampant netting of fry and mother fish now poses threat to 54 varieties of fish in the area. The malpractice should be stopped right now to protect the native varieties of fish,” said Prof Dr Md Shahab Uddin, dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Sylhet Agricultural University. Mosharref Hossain, deputy director of the fisheries department in Sylhet division, said they are conducting mobile court drives with the help of the district administration in the rivers against illegal catching of mother fish and fry.