Considering the depletion of the country's fish resources, the government has decided to distribute about 15,000 vulnerable group feeding (VGF) cards among the fishermen of Chandpur district to discourage them from netting Jatka, said State Minister for Education ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon while launching a fresh anti-Jatka drive in the Meghna river in Chandpur yesterday.

According to study of the district fisheries office, every year Hilsha fish worth about Tk 26,000 crore are being lost in the Padma and Meghna rivers owing to Jatka fishing using the illegal 'current nets.'

"Since 2000 about 13 lakh Hilsha fish have been destroyed by illegal catching of Jatka. Had only 15 percent of it been saved, the country would have added an additional two lakh metric tons of fish to the current production worth nearly Tk 2,000 crore," it added.

The study said the contribution of Hilsha fish earnings to the country's gross domestic product is 4.2 percent and this sector provides about 9 to 12 percent of the country's export earnings.

According to a study of Chandpur Fish Research Institute (CFRI), 3,000 to 6,000 tonnes of Jatka have been netted between 1990 and 1999.

A recent CFRI study also shows that currently 19,000 metric tons of Jatka are being caught every year.

The CFRI study also shows that in 1992 the average length of Jatka fish was 35 centimetres which by 2000 reduced to only 13.12 centimetres, as wanton Jatka netting reached its peak in the recent years.

Chandpur district administration has taken some programmes to warn fishermen against netting Jatka and at the same time, discourage people from buying those fries.

Under the plan, mobile courts will be deployed in the Meghna during the breeding season to prevent Jatka netting and an awareness drive will also be launched to prevent such illegal practice.