fish
Flood: Netrokona fish farm owners suffer losses of Tk 11.57 cr
Fish and fish spawns from 26,417 waterbodies and farms worth Tk 11.57 crore have been washed away by the recent flood in Netrokona.
Most of the fish farmers had taken loans from banks, which have become a burden now. The flood ruined their dreams as they have lost everything they had invested in fish farming.
Md Rokonuzzaman Khan Khokon, owner of Nipa Agro Fisheries, said that he had cultivated various species of fish in 100 decimals of land. “All of the fish were ready for sale. I had hoped that I would get Tk 30 lakh by selling these fish. But sudden flooding has destroyed my hope completely.”
“I had taken Tk 12 lakh as loan from a bank. I have no idea how I’ll repay my debt,” Khokon said.
Md Arifur Rahman and Mukhlesur Rahman, two other fish farm owners, said that they cultivated fish worth Tk two crore in 34 acres of land.
They too had taken a loan of Tk 1.9 crore from a bank. But all of their fish have been washed away by flood.
READ: Flood waters receding again in Sylhet but food, water crises persist
“I had taken Tk 11 lakh as loan from Bangladesh Krishi Bank. I had also taken money from some of my acquaintances. I had invested Tk 30 lakh in fish farming. But all of my dreams were ruined. I’ll have to spend the rest of my life in repaying my debts,” said Md Ilyas Talukder, another fish farmer from Netrokona’s Baushi union.
According to Mohammad Shahjahan Kabir, Fisheries Officer of Netrokona district, a total of 15,826 fish farmers and fish farm owners have been affected due to severe flooding.
“Around 3,500 hectares of area used as fish farms have been affected by the flood. Farmers incurred losses of Tk 11.57 crore,” said Shahjahan.
Dead dolphin, loads of fish wash ashore at Cox’s Bazar beach
A dead dolphin washed ashore at Patuartek beach in Cox’s Bazar on Sunday just after a day of loads of dead fish found at Darianagar point of the beach.
The dolphin carcass washed ashore with high tide around 10 am and got stuck on the sand, said the local fishermen.
Earlier on Saturday evening hundreds of small fish, locally known as Chamila fish, floated ashore near Darianagar point of Cox’s Bazar sea beach.
Also read: Two dolphin carcasses found in Turag River
SAU teacher develops fish vaccine, first of its kind in Bangladesh
An assistant professor of Sylhet Agriculture University (SAU) has developed an oral vaccine for fish, the first of its kind in Bangladesh, which can protect different species of fish from bacterial diseases and boost their production.
The vaccine will help boost fish production as it will reduce their mortality rate, assistant professor of Department of Marine Fisheries Science Faculty Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun told UNB.
Dr Abdullah started his research work on developing fish vaccine in 2016.
Read: 100 kg Baghair fish on sale for Tk 1 lakh in Sylhet
A huge number of fish die every year being infected by a bacteria named Aeromonas hydrophila that causes sores in fish , he said.
The vaccine developed by Dr Abdullah has been named as ‘Biofilm’. The vaccine will be applied to the fish after mixing it with their feed.
“During the research, a number of Pangas fish were given the vaccine at SAU research centre and we achieved 84 per cent success and now we are thinking of applying the vaccine at the field level,” he added.
The vaccine will be applied in different ponds in Sylhet from March and some ponds have been selected for this purpose, he said. “If we see success at the field level initiative will be taken for its commercial production.”
“We don’t have the capacity of producing huge vaccine but we can produce 100 milliliters of vaccine every month,” he added.
A proposal has been sent to the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences for assisting the research work, he said.
District fisheries official Abul Kalam Azad, said “Fish usually get infected with bacterial diseases and many fish die every year. In many countries fish vaccine is used for protecting fish from diseases . In Bangladesh, we usually use lime and salt.”
Read: Bogura fish farmer claims he discovered artificial breeding of kakila a year before BFRI
According to Fisheries Faculty of SAU, 28 types of vaccine are used for fish in different countries including Japan, US, Canada, Norway, Finland, Chili and it is the first time in Bangladesh that an initiative has been taken to invent vaccine for fish.
Vice Chancellor of the university Matier Rahman Hawladar, said around 40 lakh tonnes of fish are produced in Bangladesh and it holds the 5th position in fish production in the world.
“The university authorities have also allocated Tk 25 lakh for the research purpose and some modern equipment related to the research have been procured with the money,” he said.
The vaccine will help boost fish production and meet the growing demand of protein, he hoped.
100 kg Baghair fish on sale for Tk 1 lakh in Sylhet
A 100-kg Baghair (devil catfish) has been put on sale in Sylhet’s Lalbazar.
Fish trader Md. Alauddin who brought the giant fish to the bazar on Monday has put an asking price of Tk 1 lakh on the fish.
The fish was caught by fishermen from the Kushiyara river in Fenchuganj upazila, from whom Alauddin bought it for Tk 80,000, he said.
READ: 60kg Baghair fish on sale in Sylhet's Lalbazar
Meanwhile, people crowded to see the giant fish at the bazar.
Adding that eight people already showed interest to buy the fish in portions, Alauddin said he plans on selling each kg at Tk 1500-2000 on Tuesday, if the whole fish remains unsold on Monday.
READ: What a catch! Goalanda fisherman earns Tk 25,000 with one Catla
Bogura fish farmer claims he discovered artificial breeding of kakila a year before BFRI
Recently Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) claimed success in its quest for artificial breeding of endangered indigenous species of fish, Kakila.The institute, which has won the Ekushey Padak in native fish conservation research, claims to be ahead of the world in discovering the insemination process for Kakila.
However, Abdul Ohab, a fish farmer from Bogura, denounced this claim as a rip off to the marginal fish farmers, and that he was the first one who found success in this process a year before BFRI.
The farmer told UNB he informed the BFRI officials then about his discovery of artificial breeding of Batashi and Kakila fish. He even announced his success at the time through a social media post which was featured in local news media.
READ: Researchers find way to save Kakila fish from extinction: BFRI
Abdul Ohab also shared a screenshot of a BFRI senior official liking his post in social media with UNB.
In that Facebook post dated July 13, 2020 seen by UNB (available for viewing on his timeline) Abdul Ohab writes, "From personal experience of collecting, rearing and artificially breeding I can surely say that this species of fish is on the verge of extinction. This sensitive fish may die even with the slightest mistake while carrying it to the river bank from the water.”
He also attached some images of his discovery, which are shared with this story.
“Facing many difficulties like keeping the hormone level in control through pushing injections under water, determining the gender of the fish, yet I’m content that I finally found success in inventing the artificial breeding process that may save this fish from getting extinct.”
Due to the egg being big in size, Ohab couldn’t collect more than 60-80 eggs from a fully grown female Kakila fish.
The eggs started hatching after 108 hours in 27-27.5 degree Celsius temperature, Ohab wrote in his post.
What a catch! Goalanda fisherman earns Tk 25,000 with one Catla
Gurudev Haldar, a local fisherman, caught an 18.2-kg Catla fish from the Padma River at Char Karneshna in Goalanda upazila early Saturday to change his fortune. Talking to local newsmen, the lucky fisherman of Pabna Kajirhat said he along with his associates went out on a predawn fishing mission in the river.
Read Researchers find way to save Kakila fish from extinction: BFRI
At one stage, Gurudev and his men netted the giant Catla and later sold it in an auction fetching a huge amount. Mohammad Chandu Mollah, a local fish trader, bought the fish at Tk 25,400 -- Tk 1,400 per kg – in the auction at a local fish market adjacent to Daulatdia Ghat in the morning. Now Chandu expects to sell it at Tk 1,500 per kg.
Read Hilsa Ilisha: The National Fish and Silver Pride of Bangladesh
About the river condition and availability of fish, Chandu said, “The river water has started receding with the weakening of monsoon, and many fish like Catla, Rui, Boal, Pangas are now found in abundance. Fishermen from Manikganj and Pabna districts are having a good time with amazing catches,” he said. Mohamamd Rezaul Sharif, a fisheries official of Goalanda, said huge fish are expected to be netted now as Padma water keeps receding.
Read How Jashore’s fisheries output grew in the midst of a pandemic
How Jashore’s fisheries output grew in the midst of a pandemic
In the midst of the most significant economic slowdown in decades, the fisheries sector in coastal district Jashore proved a mainstay for the economy in the 2020-21 fiscal, that helped Bangladesh avoid recession or even contraction.
Bangladesh’s GDP growth fell from 8.2% in the 2019-20 fiscal to just 3.8% in 2020-21 – theslowest annual growth in the country’s GDP in 30 years. That represents a slump in economic activity that would have been unacceptable in normal times.
But in a year blighted by the virus where we saw most countries experience contraction in their economies (negative growth), Bangladesh’s 3.8% was the fifth-highest GDP growth rate in the world.
Read Hilsa Ilisha: The National Fish and Silver Pride of Bangladesh
The economic downturn brought on by the pandemic affected almost every sector in the country. The impact was pervasive yet uneven. This was the general picture reflected in most economies around the world.
For the record, the world economy did fall into recession in 2020, with the IMF's final assessment estimating it shrank 3.3%.
The fisheries sector emerged as one of the major pillars holding up the economy and helping Bangladesh to avoid a recession. Technically, a country’s economy enters recession once it experiences two successive quarters of negative growth, or contraction. To get out of a recession then requires two successive quarters of growth back.
Read: Hilsa prices rise as catch from the Padma dries up
President Hamid calls for conserving species of local fish
President Abdul Hamid on Tuesday called upon the public and entrepreneurs to come forward for the conservation of various species of local fish alongside the effort to increase fish production.
He made the call while releasing fish fry in the lion pond at Bangabhaban as part of National Fisheries Week.
The President said that the fisheries sector has great potentials in meeting the demand for animal protein as well as earning foreign exchange.
He said that the sector’s expansion is also very important in creating employment.
Read: Indonesian envoy pays farewell call on President Hamid
The President released fry of different species including Rui, Katla, Mrigel, Kali Baus, Pabda, Gulsha, Subarna Rui, Lobster, Mahashol.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister S M Rezaul Karim was present on the occasion.
Secretary to the President's Office Sampad Barua, Military Secretary Major General SM Salah Uddin Islam, Press Secretary Md. Joynal Abedin, Joint Secretary ( attachment) Wahidul Islam Khan and Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Raunak Mahmud along with military and civilian officials of Bangabhaban were alsobpresent on the occasion.
Fires threaten Indigenous lands in desiccated Northwest
Karuk tribal citizen Troy Hockaday Sr. watched helplessly last fall as a raging wildfire leveled the homes of five of his family members, swallowed acres of forest where his people hunt deer, elk and black bear, and killed a longtime friend.
Now, less than a year later, the tribal councilman is watching in horror as flames encroach on the parched lands of other Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest that already are struggling to preserve traditional hunting and fishing practices amid historic drought. At least two tribes have declared states of emergency amid the devastation.
After last year’s Slater Fire near Happy Camp, California, “We got spread out all over the place,” said Hockaday, who said about 200 homes, including many belonging to Karuk citizens, were burned. “Some people have already sold their property and given up. But the tribe as a whole, we’re trying to build ourselves back and be strong.”
“It’s hard to watch the devastation of what a fire can do nowadays. It’s just crazy — and we just started July,” he added.
Read:Western wildfires threatening American Indian tribal lands
Blazes in Oregon, California, and Washington state were among nearly 70 active wildfires that have destroyed homes and burned through about 1,562 square miles (4,047 square kilometers) in a dozen mostly Western states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Extremely dry conditions and heat waves tied to climate change have swept the region, making wildfires harder to fight. Climate change has made the American West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center moved the Pacific Northwest region up to the highest alert level Wednesday — rare for this time of year — as dry, gusty winds were expected in parts of Oregon and new fires popped up.
In California, a fire was rapidly expanding Wednesday in the Feather River Canyon, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Paradise, the foothill town largely destroyed by a 2018 wildfire that killed 85 people. State fire officials said the new blaze, which erupted late Tuesday afternoon, covered 1.8 square miles (4.8 square kilometers). By evening, the blaze was moving away from populated areas but there was zero containment of the Dixie Fire and two tiny Butte County communities were warned to be ready to evacuate.
The largest fire in the U.S. on Wednesday was burning in southern Oregon, to the northeast of the wildfire that ravaged Hockaday’s tribal community less than a year ago. The lightning-caused Bootleg fire was encroaching on the traditional territory of the Klamath Tribes, which still have treaty rights to hunt and fish on the land, and sending huge, churning plumes of smoke into the sky visible for miles.
The blaze, which has burned an area larger than New York City, has destroyed about 20 homes and 2,000 more are under evacuation, but much of it was burning in remote areas of the Fremont-Winema National Forest. On Wednesday, the fire was 5% contained.
But even when the flames don’t enter densely populated areas, the impact of the increasingly intense fires around the U.S. West is felt directly by Native American tribes, who have managed the land for millennia.
“We couldn’t do ceremonies because of the fire and our hunting grounds, we could not hunt there,” said Hockaday of last year’s fire. “About 40 square miles (103 square kilometers) of our original territory is closed to us right now.”
Read:Wildfires threaten homes, land across 10 Western states
Members of the Klamath Tribes in Chiloquin, Oregon, are concerned the Bootleg Fire will affect their ancestral territory as well.
“There is definitely extensive damage to the forest where we have our treaty rights. I am sure we have lost a number of deer in the fire,” said Don Gentry, chairman of the Klamath Tribal Council in Chiloquin, Oregon.
Gentry said although the active fire was 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the tribe’s administrative headquarters, the council declared a state of emergency Wednesday because of its erratic behavior and rapid growth.
“With the severity of the fire, we’re really concerned about where the fire might go from here, so we have a lot of concern about the future,” he said Wednesday.
The Klamath Tribes have been affected by wildfires before, including one that burned 23 square miles (60 square kilometers) in southern Oregon last September. That fire damaged land where many of Klamath tribal members hunt, fish and gather. The fire also burned the tribes’ cemetery and at least one tribal member’s house.
This year’s blaze is another blow for the tribe, which has already seen water levels fall so low in a local lake that federally endangered fish species central to their culture and heritage could not spawn this spring. Farmers who also draw much of their irrigation water from the same lake also got no irrigation this summer as extreme drought reduced flows to historic lows.
Farther north, in north-central Washington, hundreds of people in the town of Nespelem on Colville tribal land were ordered to leave because of “imminent and life-threatening” danger as the largest of five wildfires caused by dozens of lightning strikes Monday night tore through grass, sagebrush and timber.
Seven homes burned, but four were vacant, and the entire town evacuated safely before the fire arrived, said Andrew Joseph Jr., chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which includes more than 9,000 descendants of a dozen tribes.
Read:Wildfires rage as US West grapples with heat wave, drought
That fire grew Wednesday but so did containment and it was now 20% surrounded.
The tribes declared a state of emergency Tuesday and said the reservation was closed to the public and to industrial activity.
Another fire in Chelan County in central Washington was threatening 1,500 homes along with orchards and a power station, authorities said. Mandatory evacuations were in effect.
The Sheriff’s Office said detectives and county and federal fire investigators served a search warrant at a home believed to be the place where the fire started but the news release didn’t provide any other details.
Weird ‘living fossil’ fish lives 100 years, pregnant for 5
The coelacanth — a giant weird fish still around from dinosaur times — can live for 100 years, a new study found.
These slow-moving, people-sized fish of the deep, nicknamed a “living fossil,” are the opposite of the live fast, die young mantra. These nocturnal fish grow at an achingly slow pace.
Females don’t hit sexual maturity until their late 50s, the study said, while male coelacanths are sexually mature at 40 to 69 years. And maybe strangest of all, researchers figure pregnancy in the fish lasts about five years.
Also read: Researchers discover fossils of new species in Arizona
Coelacanths, which have been around for 400 million years, were thought extinct until they were found alive in 1938 off South Africa. Scientists long believed coelacanths live about 20 years. But by applying a standard technique for dating commercial fish, French scientists calculated they actually live close to a century, according to a study in Thursday’s Current Biology.
Coelacanths are so endangered that scientists can only study specimens already caught and dead.
In the past, scientists calculated fish ages by counting big lines on a specific coelacanth scale. But the French scientists found they were missing smaller lines that could only be seen using polarized light — the technique used to figure out the age of commercial fish.
Study co-author Bruno Ernande, a marine evolutionary ecologist at France’s marine research institute, said polarized light revealed five smaller lines for every big one. The researchers concluded the smaller lines better correlated to a year of coelacanth age — and that indicated their oldest specimen was 84 years old.
Using the technique, the scientists studied two embryos and calculated the largest was five years old and the youngest was nine years old. So, Ernande said, they figured pregnancy lasts at least five years in coelacanths, which have live births.
Also read: Rare fishing cat captured in Chattogram village
That five-year gestation is “very strange” for fish or any animal, said Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Harold Walker, who wasn’t part of the research.
Even though coelacanths are unrelated genetically and show wide evolutionary differences, they age slowly like other dwellers of the deep, sharks and rays, Ernande said. “They might have evolved similar life histories because they are sharing similar type habitats,” he said.