With an increasing number of fishers getting lost in the Bay during stormy weathers, the government has decided to install tracking systems in fishing vessels.
 

Fisheries Department officials of Barishal told this correspondent that a location tracking device called -- Global System of Mobile Communications (GCM) -- has already been installed in 69 such trawlers of Bhola district.
 

So far, 9,000 fishing boats has been registered for this, revealed Kamrul Islam, deputy director of Bangladesh Sustainable Coastal and Marine Fisheries Project (BSCMFP).
 

Gradually, GCM will be installed in 21,000 fishing trawlers, he added.
 

WHAT GCM OFFERS
 

The GSM-based tracking device can track the vessels moving beyond 55km from the coastline, Kamrul said.
 

It will keep relevant authorities in loop with the position of fishing trawlers on Bangladesh territory.
 

This means every time a fishing vessel gets stranded in the middle of the sea during stormy weather, the coastguards can easily locate the trawlers with the available information.
 

When asked, he clarified that the boats won't help out fishers by providing cautionary weather signals, or informing them of stormy weather beforehand.
 

Anisur Rahman Talukder, deputy director of Barisal Divisional Fisheries Office, said if this device is installed, it will be easy to find the missing boats during storms.
 

FISHERS CONFUSED
 

It seems the fishers were not trained properly on the use of tracking devices, as most of them are apparently confused.
 

Fisher Md Babul said, "We have heard that if there is a cautionary signal at sea, it will be known through this device, and it will also be possible to converse with the authorities through it while at sea."

President of Barisal Small Fishermen's Association Md Israel Pandit echoed the same.
 

Anisur Rahman Talukder, deputy director of Barisal Divisional Fisheries Office, said if this device is installed, it will be easy to find the missing boats during storms.

Source: The Daily Star