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Jatka catching goes on as culprits slip thru' dragnet

Huge fry seized in Dhaleswari drives but none held or purnished

FARHANA Mirza, Munshiganj
Law enforcers seized 1,005 maunds of jatka ((young hilsa bellow nine inches long) from passenger launches in the Dhaleswari River in the district during February to April but none has been arrested or punished for the callous act that poses threat to hilsa stock.
To help growth of the popular fish, the government imposes ban on catching of jatka from February 1 to May 31 everyyear.
But frequent drives and seizure of huge jatka in
Munshiganj district have apparently failed to stop illegal catching of jatka during the ban period.
From February to April, the coastguard conducted 66 drives and seized huge jatka in 21 of the drives, said Ferdous Alam, station commander of Coastguard Bangladesh in Narayanganj.
"The jatka is being seized mostly from passenger launches but the jatka owners cannot be identified after seizure. If we take initiative to seize the launch or arrest launch staff, passengers get agitated," he said.
When asked how they identified the launches before drives, Ferdous said jatka is often carried in the Dhaka-bound launches coming from Bhola, Borhanuddin and Barguna and these launches cross Munshiganj in early hours.
The law enforcers also seized 14 lakh 98 thousand metres of current nets worth Tk 8 crore and 54 lakh from February 1 to April 6.
Such current nets are often set in the rivers to catch small fishes including Jatka.
However, authorities
could not take any action against around a hundred current net producing factories in Munshiganj due to 'legal complications'.
According to Fish Resources Preservation Act catching, carrying and selling of jatka is banned from February 1 to May 31.
The punishment of such crime is jail term from one month to six months or Tk 1000 fine, or both. If anyone gets involved in the illegal act for the second time the punishment will be doubled.
When asked why none
was punished for such crimes till now, the district fisheries officer of Munshiganj said, "We have stopped jatka catching in the district. Most of the seized jatka comes from other areas in launches. Action against authorities of jatka carrying launches is needed to check the illegal act."
"Only a mobile court can give verdict on the spot, but no mobile court was present during the drives. The upazila nirbahi officers have fund for mobile court drives," he added.
Munshiganj Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shahanara Yesmin Mili said Munshiganj rivers are free from jatka catching and so, their mobile courts conduct drives in different markets.
"The jatka is often carried in large passenger launches that come from other districts. If a mobile court conducts drives in the launches and seize any launch on charge of carrying jatka, we will have to take the responsibility to send the passengers to their destinations," she said.
She suggested conducting mobile court drives in Bhola and Barguna areas from where jatka is taken onto the launches.
Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Azizul Alam said they had urged the launch owners not to carry illegal jatka. As the instruction is ignored, the authorities concerned are being ordered to take necessary steps.
During three of the most successful drives on March 23, April 2 and April 5, coastguard seized 150 maunds, 210 maunds and 100 maunds ofjatka respectively from passenger launches in the Dhaleshwari River and dumped the item on the riverbank.