Abstract
Over the last couple of decades, the old Brahmaputra River, one of the ancient river systems of Bangladesh, has fallen in verge of biodiversity changes affecting its range of fauna and flora. Study was, therefore, conducted to investigate the selectivity of fish species caught by different fishing gears used in the old Brahmaputra River system over a period of 1 year. L50% of different gears was determined mainly for dominant species where 41 fish species were recorded. Highest L50% was recorded in gill net (fash jal) followed by basket trap (vair) whereas lowest value was recorded for seine net. Seine net, cast net, sidi bair and hand line (borshi) were considered non selective gears where fash jal and sidi bair were regarded as gear specific for large fish species and koi jal, ber jal, dharma jal, howra bair and koach were considered specific for small species. Among all the gears, seine net, cast net, koi jal and howra bair were found to be harmful for small species of fishes. Monofilamentous gill net (current jal) although marked as banned gear, was found to be operated in the river and causing considerable damage to the fish stock. Fash jal was considered as harmful gear for catfish as it was found to be used to catch fishes below legal size. It is suggested that fash jal should be restricted for several months, which may allow the newly stock fingerlings to grow to market size. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbau.v11i2.19940 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 11(2): 359-364, 2013
Highlights
Bangladesh is topographically a deltaic plain criss-crossed by innumerable rivers and rivulets and has a great fisheries potential
A total 19 types of fishing gears were found to be used by the fishermen for harvesting fish from old Brahmaputra River during the study period (Table 1)
A total of 41 species of fishes were recorded in the catches of different gears
Summary
Bangladesh is topographically a deltaic plain criss-crossed by innumerable rivers and rivulets and has a great fisheries potential. Its capture fisheries in the form of common property and open access resources constitute a vital component of the agro-ecosystem of rural Bangladesh. It is a very important source of household welfare for millions of rural poor, for providing nutrition (specially the much needed protein), income and employment. 1.4 million people are directly engaged in fishing, 11 million in part time fishing and another 3 million in aquaculture activities (Hussain, 2010). It provides opportunities for about 70% of rural population in subsistence fishing for their own consumption. Quite a significant number of people are engaged in other related activities such as fish fry collection, fish trading, processing, net/trap and boat making, fisheries labor etc
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