Coast guard fires during hilsa protection drive

The Coast Guard fired 10 blank rounds to bring a situation under control after fishermen allegedly attacked an enforcement team with sticks and bricks during an operation to protect mother hilsa in the Meghna River in Barishal.

The incident occurred on Friday afternoon, October 9, in the Saora area of Hizla upazila, where the Fisheries Department, Coast Guard and naval police were conducting an operation against illegal fishing.

Authorities detained two fishermen, seized a motorised boat, and recovered 200,000 metres of prohibited current nets and five kilograms of hilsa.

The detainees were identified as Salahuddin Chowkidar and Md Shah Alam. A mobile court subsequently sentenced them to imprisonment, according to officials.

Md Mostafizur Rahman, senior fisheries officer of Hizla upazila, said a Coast Guard team was patrolling the Meghna River to protect mother hilsa during the fishing ban.

When the team reached the Saora area, a group of fishermen aboard several boats allegedly attacked Coast Guard personnel with sticks and bricks, he said. The Coast Guard fired 10 blank rounds and pursued the fishermen to bring the situation under control.

After receiving information about the incident, officials from the Fisheries Department and naval police rushed to the area in an enforcement boat and a speedboat. The fishermen allegedly threw bricks and other objects at the responding team as well, damaging the speedboat’s front windshield and horn.

Authorities later pursued and detained two fishermen along with a motorised boat. They also recovered fishing nets and fish that had been thrown into the river.

Mostafizur Rahman said the seized hilsa were distributed to an orphanage, while the confiscated nets were burned and destroyed.

Authorities are continuing enforcement operations to prevent illegal fishing and protect mother hilsa during the government-imposed ban.