Lost sweet-water fishes are back

Living in an age of wide-scale extinction of animals, reptiles, fishes, insects and plant life, news of the reappearance of many endangered fishes enthralls fish-loving people of Bangladesh. It is true many species have disappeared for good. At the same time, many others remain endangered, as seen in this country. Dozens of species are not seen any more. They have been declared extinct, or endangered. Against this backdrop the re-emergence and availability of a number of fishes appears to be a great event. This is what has exactly occurred in Bangladesh. According to a FE report, a total of 39 endangered freshwater fishes have been revived in the country by means of artificial breeding. The presence of local fishes of different sizes and shapes in Bangladesh markets is no fluke. Many of the fish have been massively cultivated by farmers, prompting a great production boom.

Long after a spate of poor yields of fish, Bangladesh has lately emerged as the world's third-largest producer of sweet-water fish, a report prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says. Since its release in 2022, the fish production has just continued to increase. Compared to the yield that year --- 1.25 million tonnes, the production in 1980 was 0.44 million tonnes. The prospects for the return of the country's endangered fishes sound auspicious. In terms of number, sixty-four out of 260 freshwater species have so far been identified as endangered in its 'red list' by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Many of the fish species have already come back like 'ayer'. About the return of the endangered fishes, Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute says they have been able to revive the endangered fishes through artificial breeding. By putting to use this process, they were able to restore the fish varieties like Koi, Magur, Bata, Shoal, Pabda and a few other popular varieties.

 Nowadays, it's pleasant to see the increasing arrival of the many revived, but long endangered, fishes in the market. Many might pose the question as to why a significant number of fishes have gone endangered in the country in phases. According to experts, habitat loss, pollution of water bodies and overfishing are considered the key reasons behind depletion of the natural fish resources. As fish comprises the second staple food after rice in the country, it supplies 60 per cent of animal protein. Thus experts feel that preserving fish species is crucial to ensuring food security. But there are adversities. Elaborating on the depletion of the fresh water fishes, a section of experts hold their own view. According to them, the major human-induced impacts include habitat destruction and fragmentation through obstructing the migration routes, overexploitation etc, and invasive alien species, diseases, aquatic pollution, incidental mortality and climate change. Meanwhile, the IUCN has identified a set of its own factors behind the dwindling of the number of sweet-water fishes. Habitat loss caused by massive siltation, infrastructure development, drying up of water bodies, dewatering, conversion of wetlands, overfishing and aquatic pollution etc have been singled out by the IUCN as the major reasons for decline in fish population. 

News of the return of 39 species is set to delight the general people feeling long deprived of sweet-water fish species. To many, these are the genuine fish. In the country, lots of people used to relish small and a number of mid-size fishes before their reaching the endangered stage. Not seeing the fishes around, especially in the market, many began considering them as being extinct. That different species of fishes and animals become extinct has long been a natural phenomenon. In the modern times, their return through application of genetic engineering and GM process has been made possible. It's now a natural phenomenon.  With the passing of time, scores of types of crops, animals and fishes have been brought back from the brink of near-extinction. Many of these species reached the 'endangered' stage.

It's heartening to see that the fish markets in Bangladesh are now filled with long lost fishes. Credits for this go to the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute. The organisation has made a remarkable contribution to the conservation of the endangered fishes. It developed the breeding and culture technology of the fishes that are endangered. All of them are indigenous species.

A prime objective for conserving the fishes was ensuring their nutrition supply. Not long ago, the country's urban areas passed through a critical time thanks to the fast thinning supply of fishes, and their formidably high price. With the arrival of the fishes brought back from their endangered state, the urban markets are now filled with varieties of small, medium and large sweet-water fishes. Fishes have lately been without the purchasing capacity of the lower and lower-middle classes. The sudden appearance of the 'long-lost' fishes has changed the purchasing trends of the urban buyers. In the context of the heated fish market seen of late, the regular arrival of the fishes revived from their endangered state is expected to present buyer-friendly fish purchases.  To speak with a little digression, in the absence of efforts to retain the endangered fishes' traces, all of them might have gone extinct. The deltaic ecology of Bangladesh has been ideal for the growth of the myriad types of species since the ancient times. Fishes occupy a major part of them.

shihabskr@ymail.com