Local fishes depleting in Lalmonirhat
Local varieties of fishes are facing extinction amid disappearance of waterbodies and spread of fast growing hybrid fish cultivation in Lalmonirhat.
Now the popular indigenous varieties are selling at high rates due to their poor supply and high demand in the local markets.
Only a few years ago, Lalmonirhat people could taste a variety of indigenous fishes like sheatfish, carp anabas, catfish, striped snakehead, chital, rui, barbel, kakila, soborna, giant snakehead, flatfish, bele, meni, tengra, and many other species, said locals.
Fish traders in the district’s biggest fish market, Goshala Bazar in Lalmonirhat town, said now local fishes are selling for Tk 500 to Tk 1500 a kg while those sold for Tk 300 Tk 500 only two years ago.
Indigenous fishes are gradually going beyond the purchasing capacity of the common people, they said.
“I purchased half a kg of tengra fish for Tk 600 from the local market on Wednesday. The fish is becoming rare here,” said Mosharaf Hossain, 55, a businessman at Tumolpara in the town.
Nurnabi Islam, 46, a jewellery shop owner at Baniapatti in the town, said he purchased two kg of shing fish for Tk 1900 on Wednesday morning, after looking for it for around a month.
“I often get advance payment from people for delivering local varieties of fish. Only four to five percent of fishes in this market is of indigenous species while the rest are chalani (cultivated hybrid varieties) fishes,” said Prodip Kumar Das, 35, a fish trader at Goshala Bazar.
Fisherman Suresh Chandra Das, 75, at Teesta River basin village Daspara of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila said now most of the government-owned waterbodies are rented out to lessees who cultivate chalani fishes for high profit while many natural waterbodies have dried up, causing scarcity of local fish.
Mozahar Ali, 58, of Kakina village of Kaliganj upazila, said he has five ponds covering six acres of land in the village where he cultivates fast growing hybrid varieties of fish and earn good profit every year.
“I don’t cultivate local fishes as their growth is slow. Besides, it is no longer easy to find their fry,” he said
“In the district, there were 5,800 free waterbodies covering 11,900 hectares of land only a decade ago. But the number decreased to 3,750 with 6,100 hectares of land five years ago,” said Faruqul Islam, district fisheries officer in Lalmonirhat.
“Climate change and use of toxic insecticides are the major reasons behind the gradual decline of indigenous fishes, he said.
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