22-day hilsa fishing ban begins

A 22-day ban on hilsa fishing came into effect across the country's rivers and marine waters from Friday midnight with a view to protecting the species during its peak breeding season, reports bdnews24.com.

Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter outlined the ban at a press conference on Monday at the ministry, while unveiling the 'Mother Hilsa Conservation Campaign 2025' and discussing the availability, harvest, prices and export situation of hilsa.

The ban covers catching, transporting, storing, marketing, buying, selling, or exchanging hilsa and other fish species in Bangladesh's marine fishing zones from October 4 to October 25.

To enforce the ban, the Department of Fisheries has set up monitoring teams at divisional and upazila levels, which will conduct field operations and mobile court actions. Daily reports will be submitted to a central control room.