"Rather, burn us before setting fire to our legal fishing nets, which are the only means of earning a livelihood," he said while narrating his suffering at a discussion in the city yesterday.

"Now I cannot even provide food to my wife and four daughters once a day since the Coast Guard members burnt my fishing net," said Radheshyam, who hails from Matlab in Chandpur.

He had to borrow Tk 50,000 from a loan shark to buy his fishing net worth Tk 85,000, nearly two months ago. "My dream of marrying off my two daughters has been dashed with the burning of my fishing net," he said in a choked voice.

Like Radheshyam, thousands of innocent fishermen fell victim to a ban on catching jatka or Hilsa fry for a period of five months from January to May. Although only current nets are banned, law enforcers are burning and seizing all kinds of nets and have resorted to repression of fishermen in the name of preventing the fishermen from catching jatka.

A government order bans the catching of Hilsa fry less than 23 cm in length and using nets with holes of a diameter less than 4.5 cm.

Livestock and Fisheries Minister Abdullah Al Noman, who was present at the discussion, admitted that many fishermen have lost their nets because law enforcers did not have adequate knowledge about fishing nets.

The discussion on 'Government policy on Hilsa catching: Effects on the livelihood of fishing community' was held at the Cirdap auditorium in the city, organised by the Neeti Gobeshona Kendra and Actionaid Bangladesh.

The speakers said the law enforcers have been misusing their power in the name of seizing current nets but they do not take any step to stop the production of illegal nets.

Fishermen also alleged that well-connected people have grabbed all the water bodies.

"How can we earn our living, when on the one hand, the government has banned fishing from January to May, and on the other, influential people do not allow us to catch fish in the water bodies," said Babu Mian, a fisherman.

The ban on catching fish in the river from Chandpur to Bhola has been imposed in the greater interest of the nation, said SA Sultan, an MP from Chandpur.

"We support the ban on catching Jatka and using current nets, but why the law enforcers are destroying our means of livelihood," said Hashem Ali, a fisherman from Patuakhali.

Nasreen Haq, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, suggested arranging training programme on fishing nets.

She also called for providing alternative jobs for the fishermen for the five months when the ban is in place.

Minister Abdullah Al Noman urged the NGOs to create social awareness about this issue.

Dr Salauddin Ahmed, chairman of development studies department at Dhaka University, moderated the discussion attended by researchers, professionals and development activists.