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Hilsa may go for good

Study with India laments poor river ecosystem

PINAKI Roy from Kolkata, India
Hilsa fishes might stop coming to the river systems of Bangladesh and India and shift their spawning grounds to Myanmar rivers permanently, if the river ecosystem is not conserved in the two countries.
To safeguard the ecosystem, Bangladesh and India must increase waterflow, maintain navigation, control pollution and stop catching jatkas in their rivers, researchers said here yesterday while releasing a joint study on conservation of hilsa fish.
Hilsa breeding and migration grounds have been shrinking in both Bangladesh
and India over the years, noted the experts.
They, howerver, did not elaborate on why the situation is better in Myanmar as the study did not cover that country. They made the assumption as river health is better there and the disturbance to hilsa is also less.
“We don't get any hilsa in the Padma, though Poba, Godagari, Charghat and even Chapainawabganj were famous for it. In fact, hilsa doesn't migrate to the upper waters in Shariatpur,” said Prof Dewan Ali Ahsan, chairman of the Department of Fisheries at Dhaka University.
If the salinity increases in the river water due to low flow of water from the upper stream and a rise in sea level, hilsa will not spawn in the Padma. Hilsa eggs and small fries cannot survive in salty water because their chloride cell does not develop during that time, mentioned Ahsan, a member of the Bangladesh-India joint study committee on “Migratory and Spawning Patterns for the Conservation of Hilsa in Bangladesh and India."
Hilsa at present contributes one percent to Bangladesh's GDP and meets 10 percent of its total fish demands, said the study. It stressed "the importance of migratory and spawning patterns for the conservation of hilsa in Bangladesh and India.”
The hilsa spawn at Kalirchar of Sandwip, Dhalerchar and Moulavichar of Hatia, Monpura and Charfashion in Bhola of Bangladesh. Besides, there are five nursery grounds where jatka grows before going back to the sea, it was noted in the research.
The study was released at a policy dialogue jointly organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, India (CIFRI) at a local hotel. The dialogue is a part of IUCN's project, “Ecosystems for Life:A Bangladesh-India Initiative.”
The meeting emphasized the need to maintain the flow of fresh water in estuaries and associated mangrove ecosystems for sustainable hilsa fisheries.
Presenting the Indian part of the joint study, Dr Utpal Bhowmik, head of riverine ecology at CIFRI, said hilsa used to migrate upto Allahabad around 2,000 kilometres from the sea estuary.
But the Hoogly-Bhagiroti migratory route of the hilsa has been completely interrupted, mentioned the expert, due to construciton of the Farakka barrage.
Besides, less rainfall and temperature variations have also been preventing the hilsa species from migrating to Indian rivers for the last few years, he added.
Addressing the event as a guest of honour, Subrata Saha, minister of state, department of fisheries, warned that if no changes were made to current fishing practices, the hilsa stocks would be on the brink of collapse.
He explained that increased protection was now urgendy needed to conserve Hilsa.
The study also revealed that most of the hilsa caught in Bangaldesh weigh around 750 grams to one kilogram, while the Indian variety weighs around 300 grams as the jatkas are not conserved here.
The dialogue made a set of recommendations to conserve hilsa fishes.
In Bangladesh, there is a restriction (during March-May) on the use of scoop nets for catching hilsa below 230mm. The experts suggested the Indian government adopt a similar policy to allow migration of jatkas to the sea.
They also recommended dredging the rivers at appropriate points along the Padma-Meghna and Hooghly-Bhagirathi river systems to maintain a proper flow of water to ensure hilsa migration.
Mokbul Hossain and Zafar Iqbal Siddique, members of the parliamentary standing committee on the fisheries and livestock ministry of Bangladesh, spoke as guests ofhonour.
Representatives from fishing communities and private sectors in Bangladesh and India also joined the dialogue.