Fisheries Week
Protect fish breeding grounds: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the inaugural ceremony of Fisheries Week-2012 in Osmani Memorial Auditorium of the capital yesterday with 20 individuals and representatives of organisations who won National Fisheries Medal. Photo: PMO
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday inaugurated the Fisheries Week-2012 with a call to protect the natural breeding grounds of fishes and create massive public awareness in this regard. She also asked the ministries concerned to coordinate among them to check contamination of the breeding grounds from fertiliser, pesticide and industrial and urban wastes to ensure safe and easy breeding of fishes. "We have to protect the natural breeding grounds of fishes to maintain our identity as a nation living on rice and fishes," she said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the week at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital. Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and Minister for Food and Disaster Management Dr Abdur Razzak attended the function as special guests while Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Abdul Latif Biswas was in the chair. Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Uzzal Bikash Dutta and the Department of Fisheries Director General Syed Arif Azad also spoke. The theme of the national fisheries week this year is "Silver Fish Gives Call, Let Poverty Go Away". The premier distributed National Fisheries Medal among 20 individuals and organisations for their outstanding contributions to development of the fisheries sector. Among them, five persons were given gold medals while 15 persons and organisations silver awards. Hasina said her government has undertaken initiatives for conservation of 580 fish breeding grounds across the country while 130 projects were taken to protect water bodies from adverse impacts of climate change. She replied to the press report and concern of some quarters on shortage in supply of Hilsha during this monsoon saying, "The ideal harvesting time of Hilsha is the beginning of Sraban and ebb tide of Bhadra". Hasina released fries of sweet water fishes into the lake of her official residence Gono Bhaban.
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