Local fishermen placed a 'fish trap' for catching fish in the Gopalganj-Kotalipara canal at Bedgram in Gopalganj sadar upazila- FE Photo GOPALGANJ, Jan, 15: The traditional fishermen community in Gopalganj district is in a tight spot for various challenges, especially waning sources of fish and lack of conservation and trade facilities.
Around 22,000 members of the fishermen community covering five upazilas of the district have been living amid financial hardship due to decline in the fish resources in the local wetlands in recent years, sector insiders said.
Their ancestral profession has fallen into dire straits as their catches have shrunk year after year due to the drying up of the river channels and canals.
For the evolving situation today, many of them are about to lose this traditional occupation while many others have already quitted the job failing to make a satisfactory living.
According to the District Fisheries Department Office, in the total area of 98,262 hectares of land, the district has 129 canals, four rivers, 63 wetlands, 144 ponds, 16,561 private owner tanks, and water- bodies and 7,204 fish enclosures.
About 16,500 individuals have been cultivating different types of fish in 7,204 ponds (enclosures) under five upazilas of the district on commercial basis, sources said.
The remaining water-bodies are yet to be brought under fish cultivation programme.
The total demand for fish in the district is 16,106 tonnes but production is 20,191 tonnes.
The soil and water of Gopalganj district is very suitable for fish farming, the sources added.
Dilip Biswas, 48, a fisherman of Bedgram village under Gopalganj sadar upazila, told this correspondent that their profession is disappearing day by day.
The rivers, canals and wetlands do not exist in the same number once they used to be in the past.
Most of these water-bodies have been filled up and dried out, leading to the extinction of fish & fish fry.
"Just to stay afloat, many of us are switching to other professions. If the rivers and canals keep drying up in the same way for the next ten years, there is no doubt our community will face extinction," Dilip said.
But the local people in Gopalganj sadar upazila said due to shortage of surface water in the rivers, water-bodies and ponds, production of fish has suffered a serious setback.
Most of the important rivers have already accumulated silt and their beds have dried up.
Insufficient rainfalls, drought and indiscriminate unplanned digging of canals in the name of construction of flood control embankments have further aggravated the situation.
However, the fishermen feel that the authorities concerned should first re-excavate the rivers and channels in the region, then provide easy loans for nets and boats and establish an adequate number of ice factories in the areas near the rivers, which is the first priority for fish conservation and breeding.
Md Kamrul Islam, district fisheries officer (DFO), Gopalganj, told The FE, "The fish are born and live in waters; yet our rivers lack sufficient water and have become narrow, leaving little room for fish to survive or breed."
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