Weather warnings fail to reach Char Fasson fishermen at sea

 
CHAR FASSON, BHOLA, July 15: Thousands of fishermen from the coastal upazila of Char Fasson in Bhola venture deep into the Bay of Bengal every year with little or no access to weather warnings, leaving them vulnerable to cyclones and rough seas.

Although the Bangladesh Meteorological Department regularly issues storm alerts during the disaster season, many fishermen say they never receive those warnings once they are far offshore because mobile phone networks and radio signals no longer reach their fishing grounds.

The lack of reliable communication has repeatedly resulted in deaths, disappearances and the loss of fishing boats, yet fishermen say no effective system has been introduced to ensure they receive emergency alerts while at sea.

More than 200,000 fishermen in the Char Fasson coastal belt depend on fishing in rivers and the Bay of Bengal for their livelihoods.

The peak hilsa season falls during the Bengali months of Ashar and Srabon, which also coincide with the government's disaster season, observed from March 15 to October 15.

Local fishermen said official warning systems have limited value because communication breaks down once vessels move away from the coast.

According to them, Bangladesh Betar broadcasts cannot be received beyond roughly 20 kilometres offshore. After two to three hours of sailing into deeper waters, mobile phone networks also become unavailable, cutting off thousands of trawlers and hundreds of thousands of fishermen from the mainland.

In October 2022, during the government's hilsa conservation campaign, more than 100 fishing trawlers from Bhola were at sea when Cyclone Sitrang struck on October 24.

Seven trawlers sank, including Nusrat, Sharmin, FB Tinni and FB Ammajan-11. A total of 78 fishermen went missing. Although 36 were rescued in separate operations, 42 remain missing. Most of them were from Char Fasson and neighbouring Monpura Upazila.

Siraj Majhi, a fisherman from Hazariganj Union, said they usually listen to weather updates through mobile phones while at sea.

"But after five or six hours, there is no mobile network. After that, we have no idea what is happening on shore," he said.

According to Bangladesh Betar's Barishal station, its medium-wave transmitter operates at 18 kilowatts with an effective coverage of around 80 to 100 kilometres, while its FM transmitter operates at two kilowatts and reaches about 50 kilometres.

Fishermen say these signals are often too weak to be received even in some coastal areas, let alone in the deep sea.

Saidur Rahman, a fisheries expert with a private NGO and former marine fisheries officer in Char Fasson, said radio and mobile signals travel largely in a straight line and are limited by the Earth's curvature.

"Beyond a certain distance, signals pass well above sea level, making them unavailable to boats in the open sea," he said.

He said Very High Frequency (VHF) radios are the internationally accepted communication system for vessels at sea because they enable contact with coastal stations and nearby ships.

His organisation has installed 25 GPS devices on fishing trawlers operating from different fish landing stations in Char Fasson.
Sohag, President of the Char Fasson Small-scale Fishermen's Association, said coastal fishermen risk their lives to support the country's fisheries exports and economy but receive little protection in return.

"The safety of fishermen has been neglected for decades. Every year many die or go missing in storms, yet their families receive little government support," he said.