60-day fishing ban from March 1 in Chandpur to bolster hilsa stock
A two-month fishing ban along a 70-kilometer stretch of the Padma-Meghna rivers in Chandpur begins on March 1 to bolster stocks of Bangladesh’s national fish hilsa.
Effective from midnight Saturday, March 1, through April 30, the ban spans the sanctuary zone from Shatnal in Matlab North to Char Bhairabi in Haimchar.
Nearly 44,000 registered fishermen in Chandpur will halt all fishing to protect hilsa fry, a move aimed at reviving the fish’s dwindling population.
District Fisheries Officer Md Golam Mehedi Hasan said local task forces in Chandpur and Haimchar will enforce the ban, backed by river police patrols.
To cushion the blow for fishermen, the government is providing 40 kilograms of rice per fisherman as food aid for four months under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme.
Awareness campaigns—meetings, leaflets, and loudspeaker announcements—have already rolled out across coastal areas like Matlab North, Matlab South, Chandpur Sadar, and Haimchar, he added.
On the ground, fishing communities are adapting.
Boats lie idle along the Meghna’s banks in Anandabazar, Lalpur, Soframali, Kanudi, Bishnupur, and Tilabari, though some fishermen were spotted packing nets after Thursday’s catch. “Protecting jatka is vital for more hilsa,” said Shahjahan Bepari, a local fisherman, echoed by peers Jalal Dewan, Ridoy Hossain, Sakib Majhi, and Rahim Gazi. Yet, they voiced concerns about illegal night fishing, urging stricter enforcement.
The hilsa’s decline is not new. Dr Anisur Rahman, a former scientific officer at the Chandpur Fisheries Research Centre and prominent hilsa expert, blamed pollution and rampant sand extraction in the rivers. “Better water quality and less sand mining are critical,” he said, optimistic that hilsa fry conservation could reverse the trend with collective effort.
Chandpur Superintendent of Police Syed Mushfiqur Rahman vowed round-the-clock river patrols to uphold the ban. “Violators will face legal action—no exceptions,” he warned.
