Fishermen with their catch

Nov. 3: If you think there’s something fishy about fish disappearing from the home of the Brahmaputra, you are wrong.

Pisciculture experts say indigenous fish species like rou, katla, chital, mirika, pabda, bagaeer, soul, bowal, koi and gota have become rare because of a problem that’s there for all to see — unregulated fishing and the rampant use of mesh nets despite a ban being in force. “Gone are the days when we used to return with a big catch,” bemoans 70-year-old Nar Hari Sutradhar, a fisherman from Siliarpar.

Indeed, so scarce is “local fish” nowadays that lovers of finned delicacies are having to subsist on ice-preserved species imported from Bengal and Bihar.

“It’s ironical that a district with so many waterbodies, including the vast Brahmaputra, is short of fish,” says Ravi Das, secretary of the Dhubri Machh Becha-Kina Samobay Samity.

Mesh nets have been banned because they kill fingerlings. leading to depletion of the population of large fish species. Sutradhar and some of his fellow fishermen are careful not to catch fish species that are on the brink of extinction, but they are an exception. The vast majority of fishermen continue to use mesh nets. “As long as the government remains indifferent to violation of rules, indigenous fish species will be under threat,” says Sutradhar.

The ban on mesh nets was announced a few years ago but the departments are yet to enforce the ban. Going by the population pattern of the district, approximately 90 per cent of residents are fish-eaters. It is estimated that about 13,000 metric tonnes of fish are required annually. Although Dhubri has 78 registered and 55 unregistered waterbodies, 6,719 private and community tanks, 1,184 low-lying areas, 77 swamps and seven rivers, it now depends on Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal for supply of fish.

Officials, however, make claims to the contrary. “In 2000-2001, the total output of fish from all sources was 8,515.88 metric tonnes and production is increasing every year,” says a senior official of the fisheries department.

But for the fish lover who craves local varieties but can’t have any, such statistics hardly matter.