On Tuesday afternoon more than fifty people, some from far away, waded knee-deep into the Shimulbari stream in Phulbari upazila of Kurigram with polo traps, chak nets and other gear. The autumn polo fishing gave the area a festive air, but the fishers shared one complaint: native fish no longer turn up as they used to.
They said Phulbari's streams, canals and beels were once so full of native fish that every throw of a polo brought up boal, shol, air and many others. Hamidul Islam and Rahmat Ali, who came from Kutichandrakhana, blamed the unchecked use of banned China duari nets. Laid across the flow, these fine-mesh traps catch small fish and egg-bearing fry along with the large ones.
Iqbal Hossain and Mozaffar Hossain from Rabaitari said group fishing in the dolas and streams used to be a competition and a joy; now the fish are taken by the China nets before they grow. They want the administration to watch closely, protect native fish breeding grounds and stop the harmful nets.
Mizanur Rahman, a local head teacher, said Shimulbari is one of Phulbari's largest streams and was once known as a store of fish. It no longer yields native fish as before.
Upazila fisheries officer Hafizul Islam said the polo catch disappoints because the water bodies no longer hold as much water or fish as they did. Awareness work and drives against illegal nets are continuing, he said.
Polo fishing is an old folk custom of northern Bangladesh whose joy depends on plenty of native fish in open water. On the same day in Dhaka the fisheries minister spoke of plans to protect native fish breeding grounds and build sanctuaries; the experience in Phulbari shows that harmful nets must be stopped for such plans to reach the water. The report was filed by Samakal's Phulbari (Kurigram) correspondent.
Photo: Muhammad Amdad Hossain / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: samakal
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