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According to Mohammad Anisuzzaman, senior assistant director of the Department of Fisheries in Barishal, fish supply at 108 landing stations across the division has declined by more than 30 percent, leading to increase in price by 20-100 percent.

He also noted that a seasonal ban on sea fishing is scheduled to begin on March 15, but fishermen have already been unable to go to sea due to the fuel crisis.

“They have requested fuel support so they can at least make one trip before the ban,” he added.

Meanwhile, some 2,30,389 of the around 3,00,000 registered fishermen in the division are currently receiving government food assistance, officials said.

Contacted, Anisur Rahman, a senior sales officer of Meghna Petroleum Company, denied any overall fuel supply shortage. He claimed that the company is meeting around 90 percent of demand, supplying up to 2,50,000 litres of fuel daily to 29 petrol pumps and 68 dealers in the region.

He, however, admitted that fishing trawlers have not been receiving fuel since Eid. “Following a request from the Kalapara upazila nirbahi officer, we have supplied around 27,000 litres of fuel to two local dealers for distribution,” he added.

Confirming the development, Kalapara UNO Kawsar Hameed said 27,000 litres of fuel, allocated to two dealers in Kalapara, are being distributed among fishers.