Post-ban scanty hilsa catches frustrate Rajshahi fishermen

RAJSHAHI, Nov 07: Though the ban on hilsa fishing expired on Wednesday, fishermen who equipped with boats and nets went into the river Padma near Rajshahi to catch the fish returned frustrated without getting any big catches.
All what the fishermen managed to get from the river were only a small amount of hilsa fries.
Fishermen said such a scenario in the river Padma without any sizable hilsa catch is for the first time they could recollect in their life.
In the past several years, they could catch a huge number of hilsa soon after the withdrawal of the ban, some even with eggs.
But, hilsa did not grow adult this year rather those are still at their fry stage and only scanty in number.
The government imposed a ban on hilsa catching from October 14 to November 04 to ease hatching of eggs and breeding of hilsa in the sea and rivers.
Soon after the withdrawal of the ban, fishermen landed in the river to catch fish with boats and nets. But they are disappointed not getting any mentionable hilsa catches.
Aynal Haque, general secretary of Fishermen Association of Rajshahi, said they went to the river with boats and nets to catch hilsa. But there was found hardly any hilsa in the river rather which they caught were some hilsa fries which have no demand or price in the market.
He added there is a scarcity of hilsa in the river this season, but during the ban, Indian fishermen entered Bangladesh's water territory with boats and nets, caught hilsa and took those away to India; though what they caught were also of fry's size.
Meanwhile, after the ban, customers also thronged the fish market to purchase hilsa but they also returned disappointed without getting a sizable amount of the fish.
Zulfiqur Hossain, a customer at Shaheb Bazaar, said, he came to purchase hilsa from the market but there was no supply of the fish there.
Shafiur Rahman, a fish trader at Sagorpara fish market, said, after the withdrawal of the ban, no large-sized hilsa appeared in the market.
There were some fries only. Fishermen said there was scanty of hilsa in the river Padma this year.
Alok Kumar Saha, district fisheries officer of Rajshahi, said he also observed a scanty hilsa stock in the river this year but he failed to remark about the cause of such decrease in hilsa population.
The cause may be ascertained after conducting a survey, he added.
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