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River police detained 20 fishermen during a drive to protect mother hilsa in Hizla upazila of Barishal on Monday.
During the operation, authorities seized four boats, 19,500 metres of illegal monofilament nets and 8kg of hilsa. They also recovered around 5.14 million metres of abandoned fishing nets from the Meghna River and its tributaries.
The drive was conducted from 9:30am to 6:30pm in the Dulk hola, Hizla, Baushia, Harinathpur and Antarbaram areas along the Meghna and its tributaries.
According to a press release from the River Police, 20 fishermen were detained for fishing in violation of the law. Around 42kg of mother hilsa was also recovered from the river.
Three teams from the Hizla River Police Outpost and the temporary camps in Abupur and Antarbaram took part in the operation, led by Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Mohammad Imran Hossain Mollah of the Barishal River Police region. Inspector Mohammad Yasinul Haque, in-charge of the Hizla outpost, also participated.
Imran Hossain Mollah told media that the recovered abandoned nets were burned and destroyed in the presence of fisheries officials. The seized hilsa was distributed among a local orphanage and poor and disadvantaged people.
Legal action has been taken against the detained fishermen, he added.