The Fisheries and Livestock Ministry has implemented a comprehensive programme to make ‘Mother Hilsa Conservation’ campaign a success — from October 14 to November 4 this year.

During the 22-day campaign, the government imposed a ban on catching, selling and transporting hilsa in the country.

On the first day of the campaign, Fisheries and Livestock Minister took part in the waterway campaign to encourage fishermen to conserve mother hilsa, a press release said.

According to Central Control Room set up by the Fisheries Department, 2,640 mobile courts conducted 19,818 drives to protect mother hilsa, the release adds.

During the drives, around 12.91 crore illegal nets were seized and 5,533 fishermen were sentenced to different terms in prison, the release said.

Around 45.41 metric tonnes of fish were seized during the drives run by the mobile courts.

During these 22 days of ban, procuring, transporting, marketing, buying, selling, stocking and exchanging hilsa were counted as criminal offense.

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