Hilsa ban lifted
Fishermen caught this season's record quantity of hilsa in Barishal division yesterday as the government-imposed ban on fishing hilsa was lifted after 22 days.
The division's largest wholesale fish market on Barishal Port Road had at least 5,000 mounds of hilsa traded yesterday, said traders.
The price of hilsa remained between Tk 600 and Tk 1,000 a kg, depending on the size, they said.
Zahir Sikder, one of the fish traders in the market, said fish weighing below 600gm was sold at Tk 600 a kg; 600 to 800gm at Tk 800; 800 to 900gm at Tk 900; and above a kg at Tk 1,000.
The price has dropped compared to the pre-ban time, he added.
According to the fisheries department, at least half of the fish caught were carrying eggs. There were allegations that some of the fish was caught before the ban was lifted.
Anisur Rahman Talukder, chief scientist of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, said he thought that the egg laying rate would be 42 percent, but it was between 45 to 50 percent due to favourable condition.
He added that 680 people were sent to jail by 899 mobile courts for violating the ban. Around Tk 2,330,300 were collected as fine during the ban. Besides, 900,000 tonnes of fish and 6,000,000 meters of fishing nets were seized.
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