ZCZC
BSS-36
JATKA-CONSERVATION-WEEK
Jatka Conservation Week begins tomorrow
DHAKA, April 03, 2021 (BSS)- Jatka Conservation Week-2021 will be observed across the country on April 4-10 with a view to creating mass awareness about preserving immature Hilsa or ‘Jatka’ which is significant to boost the production of the national fish.
Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock has taken elaborate week-long programmes this year on the occasion with the theme ‘I will swear in Mujib Year, I will eat Hilsa not jatka (Mujib Borshe Shapath Nebo, Jatka noy Ilish Khabo’, said an official handout today.
On the eve of the beginning of the week, President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in separate messages, today greeted all concerned to observe the Jatka Conservation Week properly.
In his message, President Abdul Hamid said Hilsa, as a single species, contributes the most to the supply of non-vegetarian food (Amish) to the people of the country, socio-economic development, employment, poverty alleviation, earning foreign exchange and overall economy.
“Our vast sea and coastal estuaries are the natural habitats of Hilsa. After a long migration, the pona hilsa or jatka wanders in the river for a certain period of time and turns into mature hilsa. Therefore, if jatka is preserved, the production of hilsa will also increase,” he added.
The head of the state believed that the celebration of Jatka Conservation Week is an effective step to ensure proper management and sustainable production of the national resource like ‘Hilsa’.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest Bengali of all time, the Father of the Nation, officially launched the Fisheries Development Campaign in 1973 by officially releasing ‘pona’ fish in the Ganabhaban Lake to inspire the people of the country to increase fish production.
“Following the footsteps of the Father of the Nation, we have formulated Marine Fisheries Act-2020, Fisheries and Fisheries Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Act-2020,
Fisheries and Livestock Food Production and Marketing Management Guidelines-2020, Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute Act-2018, Fisheries Quarantine Act-2018, Fisheries Development Corporation Act-2012, Fish Feed and Animal Feed Act, 2010 and Fisheries Hatchery Act-2010,” the premier said.
As a result of various measures taken by the present government, the total fish production has increased to 45.03 lakh metric tons in the fiscal year 2019-20, whereas the total fish production in the fiscal year 2008-2009 was only 27.01 lakh metric tons, she added.
Today, Bangladesh has ranked third in the world in fish production in inland water bodies and fifth in fish production in closed water bodies, she continued.
Hasina said in the fiscal year 2019-20, the production of hilsa has increased to 5 lakh 50 thousand metric tons, whereas in the fiscal year 2008-09, the production of hilsa was 2 lakh 99 thousand metric tons.
“At present, we have achieved the first place across the globe in hilsa production,” she said.
Mentioning that ‘Today’s Jatka is the Hilsa of tomorrow’, the premier said the government is determined to effectively implement the integrated initiative for the conservation of Jatka.
She urged all concerned individuals, organizations and people at all levels to come forward to creating mass awareness about preserving immature Hilsa or ‘Jatka’.
Both, the president and the premier, wished overall success of all the events taken on the occasion of ‘Jatka Conservation Week-2021’ in the Mujib Year.
BSS/PR/SRH/KU/2011 HRS