22-day ban on hilsa fishing starts on Friday in Bangladesh

The government has imposed a 22-day ban on catching and selling hilsa fish starting Friday (October 7) as part of its efforts to increase foreign exchange earnings with fish production, by saving spawning mother hilsa. "In the time of the ban, we will monitor from the sky with the help of our air force whether anyone is fishing hilsa. Our naval police, coastguard, navy and administration will work together to this end," Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim said on Thursday, at a press conference organized to declare the ban at the Secretariat in the capital. To ensure mother hilsa fishing stops completely, ice mills in some particular areas of the country will be shut down temporarily, he said, adding that anyone who tries to violate the temporary ban will be confronted by mobile courts. The minister also noted that Bangladesh has so far exported 1,352 tonnes of hilsa worth Tk141.64 crore this year. Hilsa production almost doubled to 5.65 lakh tonnes in FY21 over the ...