Around 42,000 fishermen in Chandpur resumed hilsa fishing in the Meghna and Padma rivers early Friday after a 22-day ban imposed by the government to protect mother hilsa during the breeding season.
The ban on catching, selling and transporting hilsa officially ended at 11:59pm on Thursday, allowing the fishermen to return to fishing after weeks of hardship.
District Fisheries Officer Fakhrul Islam said authorities maintained strict monitoring throughout the 22-day ban.
He said extensive drives were conducted across the rivers throughout the 22-day ban period to safeguard mother hilsa.
Joint forces comprising the district and upazila administrations, the Fisheries Department, river police, the Bangladesh Coast Guard and the district task force patrolled the 70-kilometre sanctuary area day and night.
During this period, 238 operations and 72 mobile court drives were conducted in the sanctuaries.
These efforts resulted in the seizure of approximately 2.75 tonnes of mother hilsa (egg-bearing hilsa), as well as fishing nets worth Tk 2.71 crore, which were later destroyed.
A total of 161 cases were filed, and mobile courts collected approximately Tk 4 crore in fines for violations of the government ban.
Furthermore, 183 fishermen from Chandpur Sadar, Matlab Uttar and Haimchar were detained for catching mother hilsa in the Padma-Meghna sanctuaries during this period. They were subsequently sentenced to imprisonment and/or fined.
To support those affected by the ban, the government distributed 25 kg of rice to each unemployed fisherman as temporary relief.
Many fishermen, however, voiced concerns that this assistance was insufficient.
Talking to UNB on Thursday, fishermen from Saformali, Lalpur, Anandabazar, Baharia, Dokanghar, Ramdasdi and Harina Ferry Ghat said rice alone was not enough to sustain their families.
They also demanded cash assistance alongside rice from the government.
Expressing their frustration, the fishermen said they were forced to take on debt just to manage their daily living expenses and were now deeply worried about how they will repay these loans.
"If at least Tk 3,000 per person were allocated, it would have provided some relief," they said.
The government imposed the 22-day fishing ban in the Padma-Meghna rivers in Chandpur from October 8 to protect mother hilsa and boost future production of the country's national fish.