Ban on fishing in sea to continue till July 23

The ban on fishing in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Bay of Bengal will continue till July 23, aiming to preserve and ensure smooth breeding of sea fish and crustacean, reports BSS.

“Harvesting of all kinds of fishes and crustaceans including the lobsters, shrimp and cuttlefish through commercial trawlers will be prohibited in EEZ in the Bay of Bengal for 65 days staring from May 20,” State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Md Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru said at a press conference at his ministry’s conference room in Dhaka.

The restriction on catching fish imposed in the Bay of Bengal from May 20 considering the breeding of sea fishes and their conservation, he added.

During the 65-day ban on fishing in the sea, 414,784 fishermen families under 42 upazilas of 12 coastal districts will get 40 kilograms of rice as food assistance per month under the VGF programme as they have no alternative income source, the state minister said.

Allocation of Taka 225 crore in the budget of fiscal 2019-20 for three banned period of fishing is underway, Khasru informed.

He said the country achieved self-sufficiency in fish production by producing 42.77 lakh tonnes fish in fiscal 2017-18. Of them, 6.56 lakh tonnes were produced from sea which was 15.33 percent of the total fish production, he added.

Secretary of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry Raisul Alam Mondal, Director General of Department of Fisheries Abu Sayed Md Rashedul Haque and Director  General of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) Dr Yahia Mahmud were present in the conference, among others.