| dc.description.abstract | The study was conducted to identify the factors affecting wetland fish biodiversity in
Soma Nadi Jalmohal under Derai upazila and Dekhar Haor under Dakshin Sunamganj
upazila in Sunamganj district for a period of 11 months from June 2013 to April 2014. The
study was done by questionnaire interviews (QI) of fishers, focus group discussions
(FGD), key informant interviews (KII) and secondary data collection. During the study
period, a total of 84 fish species under 30 families were recorded where 65 species under
23 families were found in the study areas and 19 species disappeared within 10 years. The
species availability status was remarked in four categories and obtained as 26 species
commonly available, 18 moderately available, 21 rarely available and 19 species are not
available. Among available 65 fish species, 9 species of carps, 16 species catfishes, 10
species of barbs and minnows, 1 species of clupeid, 4 species of snakeheads, 4 species of
eels, 11 species of perches, 1 species of featherback, 3 species of loaches and other
miscellaneous 6 species including 3 species of prawns were found. The highest abundance
of fishes was catfish (24.62%). Highest abundance of commonly available 26 species was
found in October to January and lowest species abundance was observed in April to June.
Among 54 threatened fish species listed by IUCN (2000), about 37 species were found 10
years ago in the study areas but only 24 were found during the study period. It is revealed
that there has been gradual reduction of the fish diversity in the haor areas that is from the
earlier 84 species to present 65 species in the Dekhar Haor (22.62% declined) and 56
species in the Soma Nadi Jalmohal (33.33% declined). Average fish catch per fisherman
per day was reduced from 8.35kg to 1.4kg in the Dekhar Haor and 6.7kg to 1.445kg in the
Soma Nadi Jalmohal within 10 years. Combined effects of some factors are responsible
for the loss of fish biodiversity. Major factors affecting fish biodiversity were grouped into
four categories such as manmade factors, environmental factors, social factors and policy
issues. Majority of the respondents agreed that two manmade factors namely fishing by
complete dewatering of wetlands and overfishing were mainly responsible for loss of fish
biodiversity in the haor region. During the survey, 91.25% respondents opined water
depth reduction as the main environmental factor followed by siltation and sedimentation
(88.75%). The respondents (72.5%) cited that the first and foremost social factor was
private land ownership in the haor basin and the second social factor was agricultural
cropping pattern. Among policy issues, a lot of respondents (82.5%) identified that leasing
system was responsible for fish biodiversity degradation in the Dekhar Haor but only
27.5% fishermen from Soma Nadi Jalmohal area explained it as problematic factor for
fish biodiversity. Community based fisheries management, fishing gears maintenance,
sanctuary establishment and management, afforestation, implementation of fishing acts
and regulations, stocking of fish fingerling in the open waters, dredging of beels and
raising public awareness can play great role in conserving fish biodiversity. It can be
concluded that factors identified in the present study need to be addressed to conserve and
enhance fish biodiversity in the haor region of Bangladesh. | en_US |
