8-month ban on jatka catching begins

BAGERHAT, Nov 1 (UNB): An eight-month ban on catching 'jatkas' (hilsa fries less than 9 inches or 23 centimetres in length) begins in all hilsa regions of the country on Saturday.

The fishing, storing, transportation and selling of jatkas will remain prohibited from November 1 to June 30 next, district fisheries officer Narayan Chandra Mondal told UNB on Friday.

Violators of the ban will face maximum fine of Tk 5,000 and two years' rigorous imprisonment, he added.

If the ban is strictly implemented, hilsa resources of around 50,000 tonnes could be increased every year, according to a government estimate. Regular drives will be conducted by executive magistrates with the assistance of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Bangladesh Coast Guard, Fisheries Department, Bangladesh Navy and upazila administration to check jatka fishing during the ban period.

Narayan Chandra Mondal said mother hilsas migrate from the Bay of Bengal to various river channels across the country in their breeding season to spawn the eggs on the first half of October.

By the end of October, the fries grow up to 1cm. By May, the hilsa fries grow up and migrate to the bay again.