Altaf Mia, a local fisherman of Barguna, ventured out into the sea with high hopes of catching a large number of hilsa fish after the 65-day ban and repaying his mounting debts.
But a significant shortage of hilsa disappointed him and other fishermen in the last couple of days. “We are not getting enough hilsa despite the government imposed a 65-day fishing ban in the Bay of Bengal and river estuaries to ensure adequate breeding of various marine fish including hilsa.” The ban was lifted on 23 July at midnight.  

“Since fishing remained halted for a long time, I struggled to feed my family. Although the government provided support to some extent but it was not enough. Now I can survive with my family if I find an adequate number of hilsa from the sea.” Altaf said. Moreover, the low pressure in the sea has made the sea rough, he said, adding that fishermen and trawler owners are returning from the sea empty-handed.

Hundreds of fishermen of the country's largest fish landing centre, BFDC fish ghat in Patharghata, Barguna, returned empty-handed and fearing possible losses.
Fishermen said they are being forced to anchor the trawlers in safe places due to strong currents in the sea. Rasul Mia, owner of a trawler, said he took a loan from the lenders to send a team of fishermen into the sea. But as the sea is rough, they have returned almost empty-handed, he said.

“This time we went to the sea with a lot of hope. But I am not getting the desired number of hilsa fish. The fish I got in the last three days will not recover the fishing cost. Besides, Hilsa was not found last year as expected either.”
Bangladesh is the biggest producer of hilsa in the world. But the recent declining trend in year-on-year growth rate and the scarcity of hilsa even in June-July this year, when there should have been plenty of it, has raised concerns.

Another fisherman Noor Alam Matubbar said he went fishing in the sea on 26 July with logistics worth around Tk3 lakh. At first, he wanted to stay in the sea despite the storm. But later, as the situation got worse, he returned. He is now planning to wait until the weather turns favourable and stay on the coast.

Md Abul Hossain Faraji, owner of Allahr Dan trawler, said that his three trawlers fishing in the sea. Almost every one of these trawlers has logistics worth Tk2.5 to Tk3 lakh.
“On the one hand, the prices of diesel and food commodities have gone up, on the other, trawlers are going to sea and coming back without fish. I have to pay every fisherman who goes to the sea for fishing. This time after the ban on fishing in the sea, natural disasters have started making the situation worse.”

Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, President of Barguna District Fishery Trawler Owners' Association, said that the fishermen went fishing in the sea by borrowing money but over 200 trawlers have taken shelter due to hostile weather.

Marketing Officer of Patharghata BFDC Fish Landing Center Biplab Kumar Sarkar hoped that the fishermen will be able to overcome the loss of the ban if they get the desired fish in the sea in the upcoming days.
Barguna District Fisheries Officer Mohammad Mohsin said that although the 65-day fishing ban has ended, most of the fishermen are unable to go fishing with trawlers due to rough seas. He hoped that the fishermen would return with plenty of hilsa but hostile weather ruined the situation. We are offering maximum cooperation and overall support to the fishermen, he said.