Climate change dwindles fish species
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Chittagong Office
CHITTAGONG, Dec 14: The Chittagong region will be deficient of at least 50 thousand tonnes of fish a year due to climate change. It may also cause extinction of many species of sweet water fish, fisheries department officials said.
Sources said Chittagong produces 0.279 million (two lakh 79 thousand) tonnes of fish yearly, which is more than the total demand of the district.
However, about 500 thousand fishermen are now becoming jobless as a result.
Met officials said rainfall during the Bangla months of Baishak to Asharh this year was 49 per cent less than normal, which partly affected production of fish in the region.
A survey conducted by International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed that 54 species of sweet water fish out of 288 species in the country have already disappeared.
Fisheries officials said Banskhali, Anwara, Sitakunda and Mirsarai, four coastal upazilas of Chittagong, produce large quantity of sea fish apart from sweet water fish. The Karnaphuly, Halda and Sankha, three major rivers in the region, produce a good quantity of sweet water fish. But fish production in these rivers has reduced alarmingly.
Md Monjurul Kibria, assistant professor of zoology of Chittagong University, said the sweet water habitations have contracted due to the intrusion of saline water with the rise in the sea level.
Prof Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal of marine science institute of the CU said due to the elevation of sea level the Bay fishing grounds and its biodiversity have been endangered.
The breeding grounds and food-cycle of the marine species are being hampered.
The ponds and shrimp enclosures in Banskhali Upazila of the district have been worst affected according to local fishermen. They said sweet water fish worth over several millions of taka was destroyed as the sea water entered into at least 50 shrimp enclosures and 115 ponds following cyclone Sidr.
Mirsarai Muhuri project, the biggest fish cultivation area of Chittagong that provides over 60 per cent of the total requirement of fish in Chittagong is also affected as salinity increased in some areas of the project.
CHITTAGONG, Dec 14: The Chittagong region will be deficient of at least 50 thousand tonnes of fish a year due to climate change. It may also cause extinction of many species of sweet water fish, fisheries department officials said.
Sources said Chittagong produces 0.279 million (two lakh 79 thousand) tonnes of fish yearly, which is more than the total demand of the district.
However, about 500 thousand fishermen are now becoming jobless as a result.
Met officials said rainfall during the Bangla months of Baishak to Asharh this year was 49 per cent less than normal, which partly affected production of fish in the region.
A survey conducted by International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed that 54 species of sweet water fish out of 288 species in the country have already disappeared.
Fisheries officials said Banskhali, Anwara, Sitakunda and Mirsarai, four coastal upazilas of Chittagong, produce large quantity of sea fish apart from sweet water fish. The Karnaphuly, Halda and Sankha, three major rivers in the region, produce a good quantity of sweet water fish. But fish production in these rivers has reduced alarmingly.
Md Monjurul Kibria, assistant professor of zoology of Chittagong University, said the sweet water habitations have contracted due to the intrusion of saline water with the rise in the sea level.
Prof Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal of marine science institute of the CU said due to the elevation of sea level the Bay fishing grounds and its biodiversity have been endangered.
The breeding grounds and food-cycle of the marine species are being hampered.
The ponds and shrimp enclosures in Banskhali Upazila of the district have been worst affected according to local fishermen. They said sweet water fish worth over several millions of taka was destroyed as the sea water entered into at least 50 shrimp enclosures and 115 ponds following cyclone Sidr.
Mirsarai Muhuri project, the biggest fish cultivation area of Chittagong that provides over 60 per cent of the total requirement of fish in Chittagong is also affected as salinity increased in some areas of the project.