Boats on wholesale fishing in the Bay

About 42,000 illegal mechanised and non-mechanised boats are out in the Bay of Bengal, depleting fish resources and disturbing fishing grounds.

And of the fishing boats operating in the high sea and coastal areas, only 3,000 have licences, said Deputy Director of the marine fisheries department Sabbir Ahmed.

Severe pollution adds to the crisis, stifling the growth of fish resources in the bay, once known as the gold mine of fish.

As a trickle-down effect, the fish population in coastal areas has been downsized.

The authorities are now thinking of launching a crackdown soon on the illegal fishing boats. A high-level meeting of the fisheries ministry was held on December 21 to that end, said the deputy director.

The marine fisheries department and the mercantile marine department will jointly carry out the drive.

Also, efforts are underway to carry out a survey on fish stock in the bay, he said.

A past survey report estimated the highest possible reserve of shrimps at around 9,000 tons and fishes at around 1,60,000 tons a year.

Dr Momtaz Uddin Ahmed, principal scientific officer of the marine fisheries department, told The Daily Star, "If pollution and indiscriminate fishing are not contained soon, the bay water in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) will be void of fishes."

"We need to have a scientific approach to fishing in the bay and coastal areas."

The fishing boats apart, huge stick nets are used in fishing in the shallow coastal water to the detriment of fish eggs and fish fry, he said.

Fishes from the high sea normally migrate to the shallow water in June and July to lay eggs. But mechanised boats and stick nets obstruct the free movement of egg-laying fishes and most are caught by fishermen, the officer explained.

Sometimes, fishermen destroy the floating eggs in the shallow water with stick nets and other small-sized nets, said Mohammad Salauddin, vice-president of the Chittagong-based Trawler Owners Association.

"The use of stick nets should be stopped if we want to see an unhindered growth of fish." The river mouths should also be kept open to egg-laying sea fishes for freewheeling movement, he suggested.

"An uninterrupted growth of fish is a must for export as well," Salauddin said.

"Until a few months ago, the deep sea trawlers had a bumper catch with about 100 tons of fish in every voyage. A bumper catch was seen in 2000 too," said Salauddin. Bumper catches will not hold out with a drastic fall in fish resources, he warned.

In the fiscal 2001-02, the harvest of shrimps was recorded at 3,168 tons and white fishes at 21,000 tons.

Director of the environment department Md. Ismail said, "Fish cannot come to the shallow water from the deep sea for food, as toxic chemical waste, industrial effluents and oil spillage from vessels and mechanised boats pollute the sea water round the clock."

"Dumping of waste from artificial hatcheries also caused pollution in the sea, threatening the growth of sea fishes and sometimes causing death of marine animals," Ismail pointed out.