<
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/fish-eggs-return-to-bangladeshs-halda-river-following-conservation-efforts/>
"The Halda River — the world’s only gene bank for pure Indian carp fishes such
as ruhi (
Labeo rohita), catla (
Labeo catla), Mrigal (
Cirrhinus cirrhosus)
and Kalibaush (
Labeo calbasu) — has resumed hosting fish eggs in recent
years, after fish eggs had all but disappeared from the river in 2016.
At its height in 1941, around 4,000 kgs (8,818 lbs) of fish eggs could be found
in the river, according to the Halda River Research Laboratory at the Zoology
Department of the University of Chittagong. The river is also home to around
147 Ganges River dolphins, which have been categorized as endangered by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In 2020, 424 kg (935 lbs) of fish eggs were produced in the river, although
production fell in the last two years due to salinity intrusion as a result of
an unexpected tropical cyclone named Amphan.
Since 2018, comprehensive conservation efforts to rein in overfishing,
industrial pollution and other pollutants such as tobacco farming, spearheaded
by the government and civil society, have allowed fish to once again breed in
the Halda’s waters.
The government also initiated a process to declare the river an Ecologically
Critical Area (ECA), which, experts say, will further protect the river —
source to about 180 million liters (47.5 million gallons) of fresh water for
about 7 million inhabitants of Chittagong city. In 2020, the river was declared
a fish heritage site."
Via
Future Crunch issue 191:
https://futurecrunch.com/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
