Amid the ongoing 22-day ban on fishing, fishermen across Barishal division are going through a difficult time to remain afloat.

Visiting the Jele Palli (fishermen's village) under Tungibaria union of Barishal Sadar upazila yesterday, this correspondent found most fishermen passing idle hours while some were engaged in repairing their fishing nets and boats.

With hardly any income during this time, most fishers are compelled to borrow money from non-government organisations.

"We are basically living on rice and potatoes. Only once in a while we may have lentils and vegetables, which are quite expensive these days. We neither have any income nor any savings to fend for ourselves during the ban on fishing," said Seema Begum, a housewife.

Of the 376 fishermen in the village, 196 are registered, and only 155 of them got the government's assistance of 25 kilogrammes of rice.

"Almost all the 376 fishermen had to take loans from NGOs ranging from Tk 20,000 to Tk 2 lakh," said Kalam Howladar, general secretary of the fishermen's association in the union.

"We are all eagerly waiting for a better time when we can go fishing in the river again and may have a good catch to be able to pay back our debts," he added.

However, some fishermen have still been going to the river for fishing, ignoring the ban.

Ismail Khalifa, a fisherman, said, "In this full moon, there are many hilsa in the river, so some fishermen cannot resist the temptation. However, they are going to the river at their own risk, as the authorities are conducting drives and many get caught and jailed, or fined, or both."

Some fishermen said they could not catch enough fish prior to the ban due to inclement weather.

"Only 25 kg of rice is not enough to survive for 22 days with the family. We need either 100 kg of rice, or cash assistance during the fishing ban," said Ismail.

According to the Divisional Fisheries Office in Barishal, of the total 4,21,093 registered fishermen in the division, some 3,78,041 received 25 kg of rice.

However, the distribution has not been done proportionately. For instance, 80 percent of registered fishermen got rice in Barishal district whereas only 50 percent in Bhola.

Nripendranath Biswas, deputy director of Divisional Fisheries Office in Barishal, said, "We are doing our best to ensure all registered fishermen get government assistance. However, we cannot do much regarding unregistered fishers at this moment."