Fishermen yet to get aid to survive during ban

This is because of failure of the authorities concerned in preparing a list of fishermen although five out of seven months already expired.

The Department of Fisheries has banned fishing of 'Jatka' in seven months of the year from November to May, according to sources in Patuakhali District Fisheries Office. An amount of Tk 20 lakh was allocated for distribution among poor and jobless fishermen to create alternative jobs like vegetable gardening, rickshaw or van pulling, rearing of goat, duck or hen, tailoring and other jobs during the period.

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An amount of Tk 4.50 lakh each was allocated for Patuakhali and Galachipa upazilas, Tk 4 lakh for Kalapara, Tk 3 lakh for Baufal, Tk 2 lakh for Dashmina and Tk one lakh each for Dumki and Mirzaganj upazila.

A taskforce committee was formed from union to district level to monitor the programme. The committee launched drives in different rivers to resist fishing of 'Jatka' during the ban period.

In February, 12 drives were launched in different rivers and 630 kg of 'Jatka' and 24,425 metre net worth about Tk 5 lakh were seized.

When asked, three fishermen, Solaiman, Kashem and Abul Hossain, expressed their ignorance about the programme. They said they did not hear about allocation of fund for them by the government.

When contacted, senior fisheries officer Bankim Chandra said, 'We could not disburse the amount due to failure of the taskforce committee in submitting the list of poor and jobless fishermen.'