CHANDPUR, April 8, 2023 (BSS) - A joint team of task force in separate drives arrested 11 fishermen from the Padma and the Meghna river sanctuaries with current nets and Jatka in the last 24 hours in Haimchar upazila of the district where a ban continues on Hilsa fishing to increase the production of mother Hilsa and protect the fry.

Executive Magistrate of Chandpur Deputy Commissioner's office Akhter Jahan Sathi conducted the the mobile courts.

Among the detained fishermen, five were given jail sentences of various terms and sent to prison, three were fined Taka 2500 and three minors were released on bond.

The mobile courts seized 150 kgs of Jatka and 1,75,000 meters of current nets during the drives.

The seized jatka was distributed among the local poor and orphans and current nets were destroyed with fire.

The government imposed a two-month ban on catching jatka to increase the production of Hilsa in the Padma-Meghna sanctuary under Chandpur, Shariatpur, Lakshmipur, Barishal, and Bhola districts.

Seventy kilometers sanctuary of Meghna in Sadar, Haimchar, Matlab North, and Matlab South upazilas of the Chandpur district are also under restriction.

Those who violate the ban are subjected to a maximum of two years imprisonment, a fine of Taka 5,000, or both, assistant fisheries officer of Sadar upazila Md Mizanur Rahman told BSS.