BAGERHAT: Fishermen from India, Myanmar and Thailand are trespassing into the Bangladesh water territory and poaching huge amount of fishes from the Bay of Bengal.

This has been directly hampering the quality and quantity of fishing by Bangladeshi fishermen.

The poachers are so equipped and talented that they easily dodge the patrolling ships on the naval force of Bangladesh in the deep sea, said the fishermen.

Indian fishermen are equipped with global positioning system (GPS) and other long range communication gadgets and are easily intruding into Bangladesh territory for stealing fishes, informed Bangladeshi fishermen from Sunderbans coastal area.

Bangladesh Navy recently detained 55 Indian fishermen from the Bay. 42 of them had already been sent to Bagerhat jail.

While talking with fishermen and fish traders from Bagerhat, Sharankhola, Mongla and Pathorghata coast Banglanews came to know that Bangladeshi fishermen usually go for fishing in Bay from the mid October to February/March as sea remains calm during this time.

This time Indian fishermen also intrude into Bangladesh water territory and poach fish, they informed.

Indian fishermen carry lethal weapons in their boats and openly threaten us, a Bangladeshi fisherman alleged.

Fishermen from India, Myanmar and Thailand use to trespass into Bangladesh water territory with large modern fishing boats and they quickly flee when they see Bangladesh Naval ships, he added.

The intruder fishermen use high-powered binoculars to locate Bangladeshi naval ships from far away, said another fisherman from Sundarbans area.    

Indian fishermen sometimes attack on our trawlers, beat our fishermen and loot our fishes and equipments, said another.

Abul Hossain, president of Fishermen Association Sharankhola Branch, said, “Our fishermen go to sea taking challenges of storm, pirates and other adversities, but can’t fish properly due to the intruding fishermen, who use modern fishing boats, equipments and technologies.”

Director (Education and Training) of Wild Life Conservation Society Elizabeth Fahni Mansur said, “There are too many dolphins, whales and other kinds of fishes in ‘Swatch of No Ground’ in the Bay, 30 kilometers away from Dublar Char.”

Allude to; recently the Indian fishermen were arrested from the Swatch of No Ground area. Indian fishermen use five kinds of modern fishing nets.

Jabed Hossain, a fisherman of Sundarbans, said, “Indian fishing boats are trespassing into 150 kilometers of Bangladesh water territory and are poaching fishes. They also attack the nearby Bangladeshi trawler to loot them.”

General Secretary of Dubla Fishermen Group Kamal Uddin Ahammad said, “Intrusion of foreign fishermen can’t be stopped only by detaining fishermen or seizing boats. Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard should enhance their patrolling in the Bay.”

Chairman of the group Major (retd) Ziauddin Ahmed said, “Our sea resources are being reduced day by day as Indian and Thai fishermen are poaching our fishes continuously.”

Kazi Masud Mehedi, Commander of West Zone Coast Guard, said, “Coast Guard ensure safety of fishermen in the coastal area, but it is the responsibility of naval force to ensure safety in the deep sea.”

BDST: 1540 HRS, OCT 24, 2014