Thousands of fishermen have fallen on hard days following delays in the distribution of rice sanctioned to them as assistance following the ban on fishing of hilsa in the coastal belt of Bhola, including the Meghna, Tetulia, and Padma rivers. Sources said the government banned hilsa fishing from October 12 to November 2 to ensure that the estuarine fish species can breed easily in 27 upazilas of the coastal districts. Following the ban, thousands of fishermen have become jobless and have fallen on hard times. The government has sanctioned rice assistance for the affected fishermen for four months in the coastal districts. Under the rice assistance programme, each family of fishermen will receive 20 kg of rice for each month, but the allotment is lower than that of the previous year. Some fishermen claimed that the affected fishermen had earlier been provided 40 kg of rice. Abul Kaseem Majhi of the Khudro Matshajibi Samity of Bhola district said some 1.20 lakh fishermen have been selected in seven upazilas of Bhola district. However, the fishermen’s identity cards were distributed only among 54,000 fishermen, who are now eligible for receiving assistance.
Local fishermen Abul Kalam and Jafar Majhi of Ilisha Ghat alleged that most of the ID cards were cornered by non-fishermen and politically influential people.
Members of law enforcement agencies, including police and Coast Guard, are currently very active to curb hilsa fishing in the Meghna and Tetulia rivers and in the Bay of Bengal. Coast Guard sources said over 100 fishermen have been jailed for illegal fishing in the Meghna and Tetulia after drives were conducted during the last 14 days of the ban. Bhola Deputy Commissioner M Selim Uddin said the list of destitute fishermen families was currently being prepared and rice sanctioned for such families would be distributed soon. On visiting some fish ghats, including Ilisha, Gazipur and Tulatoli in Bhola Sadar, it was found that many jobless fishermen were idling away their days. Nevertheless, a large number of fishermen was engaged in repairing their boats and fishing trawlers.