Fishers in Bay work amid risk

Fishermen working in the Bay remain highly vulnerable as most of the trawlers operate without adequate lifesaving equipment.

Five fishermen jumped into the water without any lifesaving equipment when their trawler capsized in the Bay near Sonar Char under Rangabali upazila on September 15.

Another trawler rescued four of them while the body of Tapos Mondol, 26, of Char Agostee under Rangabali upazila, was found in Shibchar area after two days.

“Tapos could be saved if we had sufficient lifesaving equipment,” said Milon Das, one of the four rescued fisherman.

Bellal Hossain, 40, a fisherman of Mohipur area, said he with eight other fishermen went to the Bay in June this year and suddenly their trawler capsized in rough weather.

“We floated on water for six hours when another trawler rescued us and brought us to Mohipur. We had only two life jackets and a buoy in our trawler, which was too inadequate,” he said.

During visit to Mohipur and Alipur fish landing stations in Kalapara upazila, this correspondent found many trawlers without sufficient lifesaving measures.

Only five life jackets and two buoys were found in a trawler named Mira-2 where 20 fishermen work.

“We work amid risk as there is not sufficient lifesaving instruments. We remain disconnected from our families and also trawler owners as there is no mobile network in the Bay,” said Abul Kalam, a fisherman of the trawler.

“Trawler owners ignore our demand for sufficient safety measures. Nobody inspect our trawler to see the arrangements,” he added.

Md Fazlu Gazi, owner of a trawler at Mohipur, said empty plastic containers are preferable to life jackets and buoys as lifesaving equipment and fisherman can easily use it.

Ansar Uddin Mollah, a trawler owner of Alipur area, said, “Life jackets and buoys do not last for more than six months. We are trying our best to provide suitable lifesaving tools for fishermen.”

But several trawlers were found to keep only four to five plastic containers each, which is too insufficient.

Patuakhali fisheries office source said, there are 84,718 registered fishermen in the district and they are engaged in catching fish in the Bay and different rivers and canals.

Md Jahirul Islam, inspector of BIWTA (Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority), said the shipping ministry issue registration for the trawlers and they have to monitor these.

“We are also authorized to inspect these trawlers. I joined here in January this year and remained busy with other works. Besides, there was ban of fishing for over two months. I will visit trawlers soon to see safety measures for fishermen,” he said.

Khwaja Sadiqur Rahman, deputy director of BIWTA, said, “We can’t inspect trawlers properly due to lack of manpower shortage as we have to monitor launches on different routes.