Forest authorities detain 22 fishers, seize two trawlers over 'illegal fishing'

Two separate drives in protected sanctuaries lead to the seizure of a large amount of stingray

In a crackdown on illegal fishing in the Sundarbans, forest officials detained 22 people and confiscated two trawlers and 400kg of stingray from protected sanctuary zones in two separate operations.

The detentions were made in two separate raids conducted by the Department of Forest in the Mandarbaria on Friday night, according to Satkhira Range Assistant Conservator of Forests Mashiur Rahman.

The first raid led to the detention of 13 fishermen from Patuakhali and Bagerhat districts.

In the second operation, nine more fishers from different villages in Patuakhali were detained.

Mashiur said the fishermen had entered the restricted sanctuary zone without permission and were fishing illegally.

“The detained fishers were brought back to the locality on Saturday. The seized fish have been buried underground as per regulations,” he added.