Mobile court in Barisal has seized approximately 17,000 kilograms of hilsa fish and penalized 589 fishermen for defying a seasonal fishing ban over the last 19 days.
Alongside these, the authorities also collected fines totaling Tk 27 lakh.
According to Barisal Divisional Fisheries Office, from October 13 to October 31, authorities conducted 2,807 raids, held 864 mobile court hearings, and filed 951 cases against the violators. The raids included 516 inspections of fish landing centers, 3,786 visits to fish markets, 7,028 inspections of trading centers, and 4,189 market visits by fisheries officers from district and upazila offices.
During the operations, officials seized 16,865 kilograms of hilsa and confiscated 97 lakh meters of illegal fishing nets, valued over Tk 18 crore. Additionally, equipment, including seized boats, was auctioned off, raising Tk 667,800.
Nripendra Nath Biswas, Deputy Director of the Fisheries Department, said that the ban, effective from midnight on October 13, will last for 22 days across 7,000 square kilometers of coastal breeding zones to protect hilsa during their prime spawning season.
During this period, 319,830 fishing families in Barisal's six districts were given 79,995.75 metric tons of rice as government support.
