In Bhola, a joint team of Coast Guard and fisheries department conducted drives in the Meghna and Tetulia rivers from Friday morning to Saturday noon.

Twenty-five fishermen were arrested and 20,000 meters of Current Jal and 1,000kg of Hilsa were seized.

Md Kamal Hossain, executive magistrate of the mobile court and Bhola Sadar’s Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), sentenced each of them to one year in jail.

In Manikganj, eight fishermen were detained from the Jamuna River at Alekdia Char area in Shibaloy upazila for catching Hilsa on Friday.

Shibaloy upazila’s Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md Jakir Hossain sentenced them to one year in jail.

The fishermen are –Ayub Sheikh, Fazlul Haque, Noor-e-Alam, Hamid Ali, Mirazul Sheikh, Alamgir Hossain, Lokman Sheikh, and Habu Mia.

Around 2,000 meters of Current Jal, seized during the drive, was burnt.

In Munshiganj, a mobile court jailed 10 fishermen for one year for netting Hilsa in the Padma River.

The court also destroyed nine fishing trawlers and seized 50,000 meters of Current Jal, and Tk 88,500 and three trawlers.

The convicts are - Lincoln Rajbongshi, 18, Tutul Rajbongshi, 18, of Lohaganj upazila; Anwar Hossain, 26, Joyram Rajbongshi, 50, Swapon Dhali, 30, Swapon Morol, 44, Nahid Mridha, 35, Amir Hossain, 30, Abdul Jalil Chowkidar, 48, and Sohel Gazi, 30.

The government imposed a 22-day ban on catching, selling, storing and transporting Hilsa from October 9 to 31 to ensure safe spawning of the fish.