Sundarbans to have dolphin sanctuaries

The government will shortly declare parts of rivers in the Sundarbans as “dolphin sanctuaries” to ensure safe environment for the endangered freshwater cetaceans, an official said yesterday.
The Department of Forest has initially proposed to declare 32 kilometres of Pashur and Andharmanik rivers and their channels in Dhangmari, Chandpai and Dudhmukhi areas in the eastern Sundarbans as dolphin sanctuaries.
"Soon the ministry will issue an order on the proposed sanctuaries, following which fishing will be restricted in those areas," Tapan Kumar Dey, forest conservator (wildlife section), told The Daily Star.
Hundreds of fishermen catch fish, shrimp and crab in the water bodies, known as a hotspot of dolphins, also a breeding ground for fish, he said.
The places were identified through a series of studies by Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project (BCDP) since 2002.
The waterways of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, are the lone habitat of around 676 freshwater mammals -- 225 of Ganges river species and 451 of Irrawaddy -- the largest population in a single habitat.
These dolphins are among the world's most endangered mammals.
Although the animals are not targeted directly, they often get entangled in fishing nets and die in dozens every year. They are also threatened by the rising salinity and pollution.
Both the species face serious threats from entanglement in fishing nets, especially those gillnets (used to catch hilsa), said Rubaiyat Mansur, who works with the BCDP on dolphin conservation.
An earlier BCDP study found that the world's largest population of Irrawaddy dolphins -- an estimated 6,000 -- live along Bangladesh's southern coast, including in the Sundarbans.
In other areas, where the flat-faced dolphins are known to have converged, such as the Mekong delta in Southeast Asia, their number has been estimated at less than 100.
Meanwhile, BCDP has recently carried out a nine-day survey on dolphins in the west Sundarbans, travelling around 1,000km waterways.
A group of researchers comprising teachers and students of Chittagong and Khulna universities and international volunteers took part in the survey to identify dolphin hotspots and conservation sites, a BCDP press release said.