French envoy for resolving ongoing crisis politically

Ambassador of France in Dhaka Sophie Aubert said Thursday the ongoing political crisis in the country should be resolved politically.

"Killing of mass people in the name of politics is never acceptable. We are in favour of resolving the ongoing political stalemate through mutual consensus and dialogue," she told the FE after meeting with the Fisheries and Livestock Minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque at his Bangladesh Secretariat office on the day.   

Asked about the outcome of her meeting with the fisheries minister she said, "We discussed cooperation in the field of oceanography. Besides, we have also discussed protection of marine fisheries".

In this regard she mentioned that the CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites), a France based company, offered to help Bangladesh protect maritime resources.

"We discussed on cooperation for protecting our maritime resources and fisheries," Fisheries and Livestock Minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque told the FE.

Earlier, France proposed setting up of a monitoring pilot project of 250 fishing vessels through the CLS for monitoring marine fisheries and resources.   

Mr Hoque said that around 250 legalised trawlers are now engaged in fishing in the country's legitimate territory of Bay of Bengal with an average capacity to catch 68,000 tonnes of fishes annually while 68,000 mechanised and non-mechanised local fishing boats catch nearly 0.6 million tonnes of marine fishes in the coastal areas.

talhabinhabib@yahoo.com