Fishing in Bay to be banned from 20 May: Fisheries minister
He says alternative income or food support will be given to the fishermen through VGF cards to protect their livelihoods
All types of fishing will remain prohibited in the Bay of Bengal for 65 days, from 20 May to 23 July, to help preserve marine fishery resources, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdur Rahman has said.
"For the sake of conservation and sustainable harvesting of marine fisheries resources, alternative income or food support will be given to the fishermen through VGF cards to protect their livelihoods apart from enforcing the law," the minister said at a meeting at the secretariat on Tuesday.
Rahman further said a social campaign will be launched to increase awareness in this regard.
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Presided over by the fisheries and livestock minister, the meeting was moderated by the ministry's Secretary Md Selim Uddin.
At the meeting, the minister sought cooperation from all the divisional, district and upazila-level administrations, law enforcers, and all the stakeholders involved in fish harvesting and marketing for the successful implementation of the decision.
He also requested all concerned to properly distribute VGF rice among the fishermen, who have to refrain from fishing for so long.
Officials of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, the Armed Forces Division, the Public Security Division, the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Bangladesh Navy, the Bangladesh Coast Guard, the Naval Police and the RAB attended the meeting.
Officials concerned from the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation's Chattogram, Barishal and Khulna offices and divisional commissioners, among others, also joined it, either physically or on the Zoom platform.
