Microbial contamination of food is the main obstacle of ensuring food safety. For this, the objective of this article was to determine the changes of microbial load of three smoked fish species (Tenualosa ilisha, Oreochromis mossambicus, Pangasius hypophthalmus) in fresh and stored condition. To fulfill that objective, the freshly smoked fish samples were collected from the laboratory of Fisheries and

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Neotropius atherinoides locally known as Batasi fish and considered as freshwater small indigenous species (SIS) in Bangladesh. The present study describes the first complete, inclusive description of length-weight relationships (LWRs), length-length relationships (LLRs), condition factors (Fulton's, KF; Relative, KR) and the breeding biology in the adjacent river of Chalon beel, Bangladesh. The total number of fin rays was counted using a magnifying glass and different lengths were measured using digital slide calipers with 0.01 cm precision. Bodyweight (BW) was measured by a digital balance to the nearest 0.01 g accuracy, respectively. From the present study few mean differences are observed in fin formula:

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The proximate, minerals, amino acid and fatty acid composition of wild, pond-, gher - and cage-cultured tilapia in Bangladesh were evaluated and varied significantly (p < 0.05). The major component of the tilapia was moisture (79.12%–81.36%), followed by protein (14.93%–16.03%), lipid (0.59%–2.35%), carbohydrate (1.23%–1.51%), fibre (0.47%–0.88%), ash (0.31%–0.53%); the energy value was between 97.62 and 126.73 kcal/100 g. Macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients were detected in following order: K > Na > Mg > Ca and Fe > Mn, respectively in all the tilapia and the ratio of Na/K was <1. Essential amino acids, leucine (1.47–1.56 g/100 g) and lysine (1.66–1.74 g/100 g), were the predominant amino acids in tilapia, followed by non-essential amino acids, aspartic acid (1.72–1.84 g/100 g) and glutamic acid (2.88–3.07 g/100 g). Saturated palmitic acid (25.4%–35.54%), monounsaturated elaidic acid (31.51%–35.63%) and polyunsaturated linolenic acid (17.69%–22.57%) were the main fatty acids found in tilapia. The desirable protein percentage, Na/K ratio, the presence of essential amino acids, leucine and lysine, n-3 and n-6 fatty acid contents proved that the consumption of wild, pond-, gher - and cage-cultured tilapia are beneficial to human health and could be recommended to prevent different diseases particularly of cardiovascular type.

Assessment of benthic diversity and estuarine ecological quality is becoming increasingly important. Estuaries are not only highly productive and variable environments, but they are also areas of high anthropogenic perturbations. In this study, benthic macrofauna were sorted, identified and analyzed from a freshwater-dominated tropical estuary along the Bay of Bengal to assess their community structure, distribution and functional guilds, and to uncover the environmental drivers influencing their distributional patterns. Results revealed that the studied physio-chemical variables (DO, pH, alkalinity and temperature) were significantly varied (p < 0.05) among the sites. Capitella sp. was dominant (18%) of the forty morphospecies recorded, indicating organic richness of the area. The ANOVA results revealed that macrobenthic density differed significantly (p < 0.01) between the study locations, and diversity indices (Shannon diversity index, H′) also differed significantly (F4,12 = 5.89; p = 0.02). The benthic density decreased from the head to the mouth, which could be related to salinity fluctuations and large freshwater discharges. Upstream sites were completely segregated from downstream and mid-estuarine sites, according to cluster analysis (CA). The SIMPER results clarified the site grouping pattern, showing that Mysis-1 spp., Capitella spp. and Nephtys-1 were the most significant contributors. From the communities, five functional trophic groups were identified where deposit feeders were the most dominant (66.44%). Most of the macrobenthos had strong positive correlations with DO (r = 0.92) and water temperature (r = 0.86) and a negative correlation with soil pH (r = −0.28), per correlation and CCA analyses. Individually, soil pH (r = 0.88) and alkalinity (r = 0.898) showed strong positive correlation with Capitella sp. and Chironomus sp.2. The above results indicate that macrobenthos of this estuary do not follow the usual pattern of spatial distribution, and they are structured by DO, alkalinity and soil pH. In addition, dominance of some pollution indicator species (Capitella sp. and Chironomus sp.) and deposit feeders indicates a poor ecological condition of the estuary.

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The study was conducted to assess the impact of traditional jute retting process on the fish health and fish biodiversity in the six upazilas of Chandpur district, Bangladesh. Data were collected from respondents through face to face interviews and focus group discussions. All of the jute farmers in the study area used traditional water retting methods to extract fibres and these methods were entirely dependent on natural water bodies such as pond, canal and beel. Most of the jute farmers (72%) used canal's water for jute retting and farmers (76%) revealed that the highest intensity of fish mortality occurred in those canal water. Almost 30% of people mentioned water condition has deteriorated due to jute retting which is indicated by the presence of surface scum, bad odour etc. in the jute retting water bodies and 50% partially believed that jute retting causes the water quality deterioration but only in the case of closed water bodies. About 62% of people stated the availability of SIS (Small Indigenous Species) such as Channa punctatus, Anabas testudineus, Channa striatus, Heteropneustes fossilis, Clarias batrachus, Mystus spp., Puntius spp. gradually decreased in the jute retting water bodies after the jute retting. Nowadays fish farmers (78%) didn't practice aquaculture in the jute retting water bodies because they found it unprofitable due to the deteriorated water condition. After the jute retting season, the fishes especially carps such as Labeo rohita, Gibeleon catla, Cirrhinus cirrhosis, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and SIS cultured in jute retting water bodies were affected by diseases and different signs such as skin lesion, ulcers, gill hemorrhage etc. were observed in the affected fishes and most of the fish farmers used lime, potash etc. for treatment of the fish diseases. Jute and fish both are valuable crops in the perspective of Bangladesh due to the contribution of these crops in total national export earnings and in the employment sector. Therefore, an environmentally friendly jute retting process should be extended among the jute farmers of Bangladesh which will not be a threat for fish health and fish biodiversity.