75pc fishermen face hardships during fish-catching embargo

Staff Reporter :
At least 75 percent of fishermen live in financial distress during the period of the government’s ban on fishing in the sea, a survey report said on Tuesday.
The report also found that the government’s food aid programme for the fishermen which included rice was also very inadequate during the embargo.
The findings recommended financial assistance to the fishermen along with food aid.
This information was presented in a press conference titled “Field reality and some recommendations including issuing of ‘fisherman card'” in the Jatiya Press Club organised by Manusher Jonne Foundation.
The Foundation implemented the research project with its partner organisation BILLS and Coast Foundation from August 2018 to March 2021.
Sheikh Ghiyas Uddin Ahmed, Senior Program Manager of the Foundation for Humanity, presented the survey data at the press conference.
The survey was conducted in Sadar Union of Patharghata Upazila of Barguna District and Kutubjom Union of Maheshkhali Upazila of Cox’s Bazar District. Some 42,896 members of 8,644 families were respondents in the survey.
According to the survey, around 80 percent of households are dependent on the income of a single bread earner. A total of 10,082 people of these families are involved in fishery-based occupations.
Approximately 42.5 percent of fishermen who participated in the survey were fishermen card holders. Of them, 66.5 percent were from Patharghata Sadar Union while 30 percent from Qutubjom Union.
The survey revealed that many fishermen were engaged in sea fishing while updating the list of fishermen cards.
As a result, their names were not included in the list. Again, due to the shortage of manpower in the district and Upazila fisheries offices, they have to take the help of the Union Parishad in the process of updating them.
In this, through nepotism, many names are included in the list of fishermen. Besides, personal animosity and political considerations dropped many genuine fishermen from the list.
According to the survey, a large proportion (45 percent) of fishermen tried to make a living as day labourers during the ban on sea fishing. Besides, net weaving and repair (16 percent), agriculture (11 percent), poaching (5 percent), dry processing (2 percent), rickshaw-auto rickshaw driving (2 percent), petty business (2 percent), etc. tried to run their families through informal jobs. On the other hand, 15 percent of respondents said that they did not work or did not get any work during the embargo in the sea.
Fishing was banned for 22 days from October 4 to 25, 2021 to preserve Mother Hilsha. At that time, only 40 percent of the fish workers in the survey received the rice allocated by the government. And during the 65-day fishing ban from May 20 to July 23, 2021, only 46 percent of fishermen received government rice.
The survey recommended for proper definition of bona fide ‘fishermen’ on a priority basis, formulation of acceptably-accurate fisher list with skilled manpower under the supervision of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, updating of fisher list every two years, issuance of identity cards to bona fide fishers, providing financial assistance along with food aid, providing alternative employment for fish workers during the ban, providing loans to fish workers on easy terms and at nominal interest.
Banshree Mitra, programme director of the Manusher Jonne Foundation, SM Zakir Hossain, social welfare secretary of the Bangladesh Labor Federation and Mizanur Rahman, adviser of the Cox’s Bazar District Fishing Boat Workers Union, were present on the occasion.