SHARIATPUR, Oct 16, 2021 (BSS) - Mobile court in separate drives arrested
29 fishermen along with current net and Hilsha fish in the last 24-hour from
the rivers Padma and Meghna in the district as a nationwide annual 22-day
moratorium on hilsha capture is underway.

  The mobile court sentenced 19 fishermen to different terms of imprisonment
and fined 10 fishermen Taka 85 thousand for defying the government's ongoing
ban on Hilsha fishing.

   A total of 29 fishermen were arrested with 128 kgs of mother Hilsha and
1.44 lakh meters of banned current nets during the drives, said the district
fisheries officer Pranab Kumar Karmakar.

   The seized nets were destroyed and the seized Hilsha were distributed to
the orphanages, madrasas and poor people in the area.

   The government has imposed a 22-day ban starting from October 4 on
catching, selling, storing and transporting Hilsha, to ensure safe spawning
of the Mother Hilsha, during its peak breeding period.