By: D.K Choudhary
West Bengal Set to Give Legal Protection to Hilsa Fish
i. The West Bengal State Department of Fisheries has announced to protect the endangered Hisla Fish from getting extinct and thus has proposed to introduce law to arrest anyone found in illegal catching, buying or selling of Hilsa fish weighing less than 500 grams.fISH
ii. With the introduction of the proposed provision, Hilsa Fish would become the first fish to get legal protection.
iii .The West Bengal’s famous Hilsa Fish, known as the kings of fishes, is on the verge of getting extinct because of over-fishing, pollution and migration barrier. Thus to protect these fish the fisheries department will put stringent measures in places under CrPC and IPC.
iv. The Central Inland Fisheries research Institute (CIFRI) did an assessment of the production trends of Hilsa from 1961 to 2013, which showed a significant decline in the annual production from 36 tonnes to 0.9 tonnes.
