Some having big catches of hilsa, some still sit idle

The delicious hilsa is being netted in plenty in the coastal areas of Patuakhali and Barguna while the fishermen in Hatiya of Noakhali still remain deprived of any big catches.
Meanwhile, the government has imposed a ban on hilsa catching in four rivers in the coast for 11 days from October 5 as every year it is considered as the breeding season.
The popular fish was netted first in mid July after two and a half months of the season was already over. Trawlers loaded with hilsa were seen returning from the Bay to Mohipur and Alipur in Patuakhali and Pathorghata under Barguna districts, reports our Patuakhali correspondent.
Fishermen and fish traders expressed happiness as plenty of hisla were still being netted at the end of the season. The four month-long hilsa season that begun on July 1 will end on October 14.
The government also imposes a ban on hilsa catching from November 1 to June 30 to increase production and quantity of the fish in the country, according to Patuakhali District Fisheries Office (DFO).
Meanwhile, prices of hilsa began to fall in the local markets as a huge quantity of the fish comes to different fish landing stations in the coastal districts everyday.
In the last 3/4 weeks, over 400 tones of hilsa came from the Bay daily, said fishing trawler owners and fish traders in Mohipur, Alipur in Patuakhali and Pathorghata in Barguna district. But only two months back they got only 20-50 tons of fish, they added.
Away in Noakhali, fishermen in the coastal region of Hatiya expressed their disappointment as they were yet to get any big catches in the full season of hilsa, reports our correspondent.
They my not be able to repay the loan taken from the money lender. Even many of them cannot bear the family expenses, fishermen and traders said.
Thousands of fishermen of Chairmanghat, Tangkibazar, Tamorudhi, Ramcharan and Jahajmara in Hatiya upazila are still throwing nets in the Meghna. They cannot go to deep sea in quests of big catches for fear of robbers.
The robbers loot all the things, including net, fish and boat on their way back. Besides, the robbers kill the fishermen or abduct them for ransom, the fishermen alleged.
Fishermen Shahraj Majhi, Khalek Majhi, Mohiuddin Majhi, Karim Majhi, Kamal Majhi, Mainuddin Majhi, Helal Majhi and Abdur Rahman Majhi  told this correspondent that they were now worried about money lenders on the bank and robbers on the Bay.