A mobile court in Chandpur on Sunday sentenced and fined 29 fishermen for violating a temporary fishing ban in the Padma-Meghna sanctuary.
The mobile court led by Haimchar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Chai Thoaila Chowdhury imposed the penalties.
One year imprisonment was awarded to 23 of the fishermen, while six were released considering their age after fining Tk 1,000 each, according to Md Mahbub Rashid, an assistant fisheries officer of Haimchar upazila.
Earlier, members of Coast Guard, in association with the district’s fisheries department, detained 29 people for violating the fishing ban in the sanctuary, he said.
During the drive, the law enforcers seized about 2 lakh meters of current nets and 50 kg of ‘Jatka’ from the fishermen.
The seized jatkas were distributed among the local poor and orphans, and the nets were burnt.
A two-month ban on catching 'jatka' (hilsa fry less than 9 inches or 23 centimetres in length) is in place from March 1 to April 30 in five hilsa sanctuaries across the country.
Those who violate the ban are subjected to a maximum of two years imprisonment, a fine of Tk 5,000, or both.