He often has to remain half-fed with his six-member family since November as the government imposed ban on jatka netting that will end in June.
Moslem Ali Akon of Dokkhin Panpattee village in Galachipa upazila in Bangladesh maintains his family by netting hilsa but his days became hard when the ban was imposed.
The landless fisherman often cannot feed his family thrice a day due to fish crisis in the river.
How will I run my family as I cannot catch hilsa during the ban period, said 50-year-old Moslem.
Another hilsa catcher of the area Motahar Gazi said,I am suffering a lot as I became jobless since the ban on netting jatka was imposed.
Like Moslem and Motahar, several fishermen in the district are facing the same problem in running their families.
They would be more benefited if the government runs the food support programme round the year for all fishermen, said Abu Hanif of Chotobaishdia village in Rangabali upazila.
We also urged the government to manage alternative job during the ban period to run our families, he said.
According to district fisheries office (DFO), there are 63,848 fishermen in all eight upazilas and of them, only 25,173 were brought under Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme while the rest are deprived of the support.
District Fisheries Officer Abul Hasanat said they prepared a list according to allocation and all fishermen should be brought under the VGF programme.
2017 / thedailystar.net