Dublar Char abuzz with fishermen, traders

KHULNA, Oct 15: Dublar Char of the Bay of Bengal, adjacent to the Sunderban forest, is now abuzz with the presence of fishermen, fish traders and moneylenders centring around drying of fish. The collection of fish and drying the same covers a period of five months each year from October to February.
The fishermen, fish traders and moneylenders started their journey from October 5 with coastguards providing security of the fishermen.
A meeting was held in this connection comprising officers of the forest department and leaders of Dubla Fishermen Group on September 28. The meeting decided not to commit damages to forest resources and that special security would be provided in Sundarbans.  
Dubla fishermen village, known as 'Jele Polli' consists of 14 islands (char) on the seashore and other islands. About 15,000 fishermen, moneylenders and fish traders gather at the place with a view to fishing from sea and processing dry fish. The Chars are Dublar Char, Alorkol, Afiskilla, Majherkol, Shelar char, Narkelbaria, Ambaria-1, Ambaria-2, Manikhali, Kabarkhali, Chaprakhali, Kokilmoni and Haldakhali Char.   
A source in the Forest Department said that the department earns a huge amount of money every year by processing and drying different species of fish and by exporting those from Dubla fishermen's village. Fishermen and moneylenders are concerned over interception by the robbers, extortion and abduction for ransom. Due to adverse situation, fishermen, fish traders and moneylenders are contemplating quitting their profession. As a result, return from the dry fish sector is on a decreasing trend.
The bulk of the revenue of the Forest Department comes from dry fish of Dublar Char. The department earned revenue from this sector amounting to Tk 12.7 million during the last dry fish season by procuring 25,238 quintal dry fish from the Chars.

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