Halda River sees second spawning of fish

Halda River, the lone breeding ground for natural spawning of carp fish in South Asia, has seen second spawning -- a month after having the first laying of eggs by brood fish on May 22.

The spawning is assumed to have occurred thanks to an increase in brood fish stock and around 150 to 200kg of eggs were collected early today at Baroighona and Chayarchar, two points adjacent to Halda.

Noted Halda researcher and Professor of Zoology at Chittagong University, Manzoorul Kibria, said it is truly a promising sign for Halda River which he thinks was enriched with stock of brood fish following a drop in pollution and other manmade hazards.

"When a waterbody has a large amount of brood fish, some of them take time to get matured enough to release eggs. This is what exactly happened in Halda River," he said adding that this is the first time he had seen such second spawning in his lifetime.

Seasonal egg collectors told The Daily Star that in their early days, they would see spawning thrice a year. As pollution started wreaking havoc, spawning was reduced to once.

Excited over second spawning in Halda River, Chattogram district fisheries officer Lovely Akther said it raises hopes.