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TANGENTS

Fishing With Otters

BY IHTISHAM KABIR
It was an intriguing story: the practice of fishermen in some parts of Bangladesh using trained otters to catch fish. But I had no firsthand information on it. Then I met Dr. M. M. Feeroz, a professor of zoology at Jahangirnagar University. Feeroz has authored several books on wildlife in Bangladesh. Recently, he told me, he was in Norail studying otter-fishing.
There are three species of otters in Bangladesh. One of these, the smooth-coated otter (Lutra Perspicillata), is used for fishing. It turns out that the otters do not actually catch the fish - rather, they chase the fish into a net. The technique has been in use here for at least two hundred years.
Feeroz explained the fishing boat's setup to me. Other than the boatman, four fishermen are involved. Two fishermen suspend a framed rectangular fishing net from the side of the boat and hold it in place. The otters, trained for fishing, are tied to separate ropes which are attached to two sticks. Two men, one at each edge of the boat, hold these sticks and control the otters. Once the net is suspended underwater, these fishermen excite the otters by saying "dhor-dhor-dhor-dhor" and pulling on the sticks. The otters start driving fish to the net from different directions. After some time, the fishermen haul the net into the boat. This procedure is repeated several times.
A third, juvenile otter is also part of these trips: as fishing commences, it is released in front of the net. Within five or six months, it is trained and ready for fishing.
Feeroz explained the advantage of
this fishing technique. "During high tide, many fish in the mangroves spend time around the submerged pneumatophores (pointed mangrove roots), out of reach of fishermen's nets. The otters can swim in there and drive them into the net,” he said.
What kind of fish do they catch and how much? "They catch several kinds of fish, including Faishya. The nightly catch varies between four and twelve kilograms of fish," he said. While fishing inside Sundarban, the fishermen catch shrimp. The price of shrimp is higher, so the catch, while weighing less, is more lucrative.
Where can one find this type of fishing? These fishermen ply the rivers in and around Sundarban. Dr. Feeroz points out that even a decade ago, this type of fishing could be found in all five districts adjoining Sundarban, but now it exists only in Norail and Khulna districts. About 300 fishermen in twelve villages depend on this technique for their livelihood. During monsoon, they fish in the Chitra and adjacent rivers; pre-monsoon and winter sees them working inside Sundarban.
The otters are bred and raised in captivity by the fishermen. Feeroz and his colleagues Sajeda Begum and Md. Kamrul Hasan recorded 176 otters belonging to 46 otter groups in the two districts.
Otter-fishing helps us conserve our smooth-coated otters. However, Feeroz warns, over the years these fishermen have faced increasing financial and social stress and their numbers are dwindling.
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