Bangladesh's once plentiful rivers run low on fish
CHAR PALIAMARY, Bangladesh, AFP Bangladesh's rivers have provided for
fisherman Rafiqul Islam's family for generations but a few years ago the
27-year-old noticed his nets were coming up empty.
This year, Islam was forced to leave his small fishing community in
northern Mymensingh district to find work, an early victim of what
scientists are warning is an alarming decline in freshwater fish stocks.
"Eight, ten years ago it was possible for a fisherman to make a
decent living all year round -- now, our catches are tiny and most
people are having to find other seasonal work to survive," Islam told
AFP.
Surveys of fish stocks paint a gloomy picture.
According to a report by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) in 2000, Bangladesh is home to 266 species of freshwater
fish, 54 of which are classified as "threatened" in the group's Red
List.
But a more recent study by the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU)
stated that at least 25 of the freshwater species of fish are now
extinct and over 100 species should be classed as threatened.
"We are losing our freshwater fish at an alarming rate," said
Professor Mostafa Ali Reza Hossain of the BAU, whose team has spent a
decade travelling the country to track the decline in fish species.
The dwindling of freshwater fish has major repercussions for
low-lying and deeply impoverished Bangladesh, home to numerous rivers,
floodplains, lakes and lowland areas.
It puts over a million jobs at risk, will accelerate migration of the
estimated 1.4 million fishermen to Bangladesh's already overcrowded
cities, and removes a crucial, free source of protein for the rural
poor.
It also risks having a catastrophic effect on overall biodiversity as
the impact ripples up the food chain to birds and reptiles, Hossein
said.
Inland fishing is deeply traditional in Bangladesh -- as one old
adage goes, fish and rice make a Bangladeshi -- and another 11 million
people are involved in seasonal or part-time fishing or fish-dependent
businesses.
Many of these part-time fishermen come from the bottom third of
Bangladesh's population -- the "ultra-poor" who cannot afford to buy
more costly farmed fish, said Dhaka-based food and nutrition professor
Keramat Ali.
"The very poor have traditionally relied on fish caught in inland
rivers and lakes to supplement their diet -- especially for pregnant
women, children or the old and sick," he said.
"These fish are crucial for protein supplies -- without these fish in
their diets, the poor will be missing out on key nutrients as well as
protein. How are they meant to afford an alternative to these fish?" In
Bangladesh, a nation with over two hundred rivers, fish accounts for at
least 60 percent of the average person's total animal protein intake,
according to the department of fisheries.Overfishing, especially using
illegal drag nets, industrial pollution of fish breeding grounds and the
impact of pesticide run-off from farms are the primary reasons behind
the decline, the BAU's research has found.
In addition, waterways are being filled up for construction of roads,
bridges and houses to accommodate Bangladesh's ever-increasing
population, which grew nearly two-and-a-half times in four decades.
"The 375-square-kilometre Chalan Beel, the largest inland wetland in
the north, is a perfect example of how pesticide use and construction
are having an impact on fish," the BAU's Reza said.
According to BAU research, pesticide use has increased nearly sixfold
since 1982, with fish production in Chalan Beel halving in the same
period.
In addition, a 25-kilometre highway built nearly a decade ago
dividing the Chalan Beel has severely limited fish movement which has
had a devastating effect on fish breeding patterns, Reza said.Commercial
overfishing, including the use of gill and drag nets and explosives such
as TNT are also a major part of the problem, Reza said.
While such harmful fishing methods are illegal, the laws are rarely
enforced.
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