More than 5,000 fishermen were jailed and illegal nets worth Tk243 crore were seized during the 22-day Ilish fishing ban. The government slapped a ban on catching, selling, hoarding, and transporting Ilish from October 14 to November 4, its peak breeding season. To protect the fish, 2,640 mobile courts and 19,818 campaigns were carried out across the country, according to the fisheries department. During the operations, 2,685 illegal nets including current nets worth Tk243.36 crore were seized. Also, 5,533 fishermen were sentenced to different jail terms and fined Tk90.84 lakh. And 6,904 cases were filed for illegally catching Ilish during the ban. Plus, 45.41 metric tons of illegally harvested Ilish were seized too, and the government earned Tk20 lakh from the auction of boats and nets, reads a press release. The fisheries and livestock ministry officials implemented the programs in 152 upazilas with the support of deputy commissioners, upazila nirbahi officers, district and upazila executive magistrates, river police, coast guard, police, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Navy, and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). Also, several monitoring teams made-up of ministry and the fisheries department officials worked in the field regularly. The Bangladesh Air Force conducted an exceptional operation by helicopter to aid the campaign.