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CHITTAGONG, Jan 17: A number of fishermen, working for dishonest fishing-trawler owners are engaged in illegal fishing in the Bay of Bengal defying government laws.
Fish are being caught indiscriminately, irrespective of size or species.
This unauthorised fishing is going on in front of the officials of the fisheries directorate and other law-enforcement agencies but they seem indifferent regarding the phenomenon.
An aged fisherman engaged in such illegal fishing told the FE that from tiny fries to large sharks, nothing is spared.
If such an unhealthy trend continues, a serious fish crisis might occur, which in turn would affect the national economy adversely, experts said.
There is a bright prospect of earning a huge amount of money if the netted fries were allowed to grow to adequate size, they added.
The concerned authorities, on the other hand, were mysteriously abstaining from taking any effective measures against this plunder. Joint observation teams at the fish landing centres of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar were assigned to save the fisheries resources from extinction. Although some eyewash drives were conducted on a few occasions they failed to bring any good result, the sources said.
The professional fishermen of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar area said, they have been regularly catching fish abiding by the government's prescribed rules and regulations.
But some vicious syndicates of fish-traders and trawler owners, with their hired fishermen, have not only been depleting, even destroying our fisheries resources but also depriving regular fishermen from earning their livelihood in an honest manner.
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