Staff correspondent :

Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sh. Rezaul Karim has said that strict action will be taken if the law is violated during the hilsa conservation campaign.
The minister said this at a press conference organized on the occasion of the implementation of the hilsa conservation campaign 2023 in the conference room of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
The minister said that those concerned with maintaining law and order have been assigned the responsibility of conducting mobile court for the protection of mother hilsa, bringing law violators under the law and ensuring that no fishing boats can go into the river or sea during the protection of mother hilsa. 
He said that due to the successful implementation of the mother hilsa conservation campaign last year, about 52 percent of the mother hilsa eggs were able to hatch in 22 days during the prohibited period of hilsa collection. As a result, about 8 lakh 5 thousand 515 kg of eggs were produced last year, from which about 40 thousand 276 crore jatka hilsa were obtained. 
He also said that Hilsa fish is a significant part of Bangladesh’s agriculture. More than 80 percent of the total hilsa produced in the world is produced in Bangladesh. Various rules and regulations are followed in all aspects of increasing hilsa fish production in the country, improving quality, large-scale hilsa production. Notable among them is the non-extinction of jatka and the preservation of mother hilsa. 
He also said, this year from October 12 to November 2, 22 days mother hilsa conservation campaign will be observed. The government is more active this year than other years to ensure that mother hilsa is not harmed in any way. 
The minister said that the government is providing VGF assistance so that those who refrain from hilsa collection during this time do not suffer. He said that this assistance has already reached 155 upazilas of 37 districts rich in hilsa in the country. Under this, a total of 13 thousand 872.18 metric tons of food assistance is being provided to 5 lakh 54 thousand 887 fishermen families at the rate of 25 kg. 
The minister said that in the fiscal year 2008-09, the extraction of hilsa was 2.98 million metric tons. The plan and management of the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina increased the extraction of hilsa to 5.71 lakh metric tons in the fiscal year 2022-23. Hilsa production has increased by about 92 percent in the last 15 years.
Regarding the export of hilsa, the minister said that hilsa has now become a part of diplomacy. Hilsa is exported to the neighboring country India on a limited scale. Which is playing a helpful role in the development of commercial and diplomatic relations between the two neighboring countries. From the fiscal year 2019-20 to 2022-23, 5 thousand 541 metric tons of hilsa were exported to India, from which the export income was Tk 439 crore. The government has approved the export of 3 thousand 950 metric tons of hilsa to India in the financial year 2023-24. So far 609 metric tons of hilsa have been exported to India, from which the export income is 6.2 million US dollars.
In response to another question from journalists regarding the increase in the price of hilsa, the minister said that if there is more strict monitoring and care from the fish collection center to the marketing, it is possible to bring the price of hilsa to a more bearable level. 
Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. Nahid Rashid, Additional Secretary. Abdul Qayyum, Director General of Fisheries Department b. Mahbubul Haque was present at this time.