Cabinet okays draft marine fisheries act enhancing penalty

GBNEWS24DESK//

The cabinet today approved the draft of “The Marine Fisheries Act, 2019, keeping three-year jail term and Taka five crore as the highest penalty for foreign vessels for fishing in Bangladesh territory.

The approval was given in the weekly cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

“The cabinet gave its final nod to The Marine Fisheries Act, 2019 keeping many penal provisions of punishment for violation of the law in fishing in Bangladesh territory both by local and foreign vessels,” Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told the media at the Secretariat here this afternoon.

He added that the proposed law provides for a three-year jail term and Taka five crore as the highest penalty for foreign vessels for fishing in Bangladesh territory, which was three-year jail term and Take one lakh fine in the existing law.

The cabinet also proposed incorporating the provision of mobile court operation to stop breaching the law, he said, adding, “In many cases, giving on-the-spot punishment yields good result and leaves good impact on the people.”

The draft law was approved to replace “The Marine Fisheries Ordinance, 1983” as part of the move to make the ordinances promulgated during the military rule into laws and translate those into Bangla in accordance with the High Court, he said.

He said that nine very important and specific matters such as how vessels will be look like, getting license in every two years, how the commercial trawlers will be imported have been included in the law.

“The cabinet suggested issuing license for the vessels in every two years instead of the existing provision of one year,” he continued.

Besides, he said, the cabinet approved in principle the drafts of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman University Act, 2019, Sunamganj Science and Technology University Act, 2019, and Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Amendment) Act, 2019.