Fishermen are catching mother hilsa in the river Brahmaputra in Kurigram violating government ban. The hilsa have been selling like hot cake in Sadar Upazila, Ulipur and Cilmari Upazila of the district for the last 10 days.

It is alleged local union chairmen took Tk 700 from each of the fishermen and gave them oral permission to catch fish and they managed the local administration by offering hilsha fish as a gift.

Fishermen are seen coming back after catching in the evening and selling at different markets like Jatrapur market and Mollarhat Bazar in the locality at a price Tk 250 to Tk 350 per kg.

Chairman of Begumganj Union Belal Hossain admitted that he allowed catching the mother hilsa. He told the Bangla Tribune that the fishermen of his union have lost everything in the recent flood and they are catching and selling the fish just to manage their livelihood.

‘Hilsa is being caught by the Indian border area which is very near to my Union. If the hilsa is not caught here, this hilsa will go to India. On the other hand, Indian fishermen are catching the hilsa without facing any ban. I don’t find any wrongdoing if our fishermen catch those fishes and earn some money’, he added.   

Raniganj Union Chairman Manjurul Islam told the Bangla Tribune, the local fishermen have got the card given for the government assistance but they didn’t get any.  

Sadar Upazila Executive Officer (Acting) Moinul Islam said, the campaign continued to prevent the fishermen from catching the mother hilsa.
Meanwhile, on behalf of the Bangla Tribune, District Fisheries Officer Zillur Rahman was tried to reach more than once over the phone but he was found unavailable.