Fish biodiversity and livelihood status of fishermen living around the Titas river of Bangladesh.

Abstract

Fisheries biodiversity is important especially for the rural poor who often rely on fishing to earn their livelihoods. This study was carried out to examine the fish species diversity and livelihood status of fishermen around the Titas River falls under the villages of Radhanagar and Uzanchar at Bancharampur upazila of Brahmanbaria district. Data were collected from randomly selected 80 fishermen and analyzed using descriptive statistical tools, viz. frequency and percentage. A total of 55 fisheries species under 10 orders and 20 families were recorded from the Titas River. Cypriniformes was the most dominant order comprising 19 species followed by Siluriformes (12 species), Perciformes (8 species), Synbranchiformes (4 species), Channidiformes (3 species), Beloniformes (1 species), Osteoglossiformes (2 species), Clupeiformes (2 species) and Tetraodontiformes (2 species). Results also revealed that 60.0% of fishermen were belonged to the age group 31–50 years and 75.0% of them had no individual water body of their own. All of the fishermen were male, of whom 83.7% were married living in kutcha house (55.0%) and 52.5% of their families were nuclear type consisting of husband wife and their children. The illiteracy rate among fishermen was 26.0%, while 41.3% of them could sign only. Many fishermen (68.8%) were able to sell their catch at local market and 60.0% had an annual income ranging BDT 71,000–100,000 (= USD 844.887–1189.92). Overall, fish biodiversity in the Titas River is declining as compared to abundance observed from previous findings. Moreover, the fishermen of that place are leading a poor life having lower income than that of the government minimum wage, a basic pay of BDT 8,250 per month.
 J. bio-sci. 27: 59-67, 2019

Socio-economic status of fisher communities in Dengar beel under Melandah Upazila, Jamalpur, Bangladesh

“…In the present study, 73% of fishers were less educated, 13% were primary level, 7% were secondary level, and 7% were Secondary School Certificate passed and above (Figure 3). Afrad et al (2019) was found that majority (41.3%) of the fishers could sign only, where 26% had no education, 22.7% had primary education (up to class 5) and 10% had complete SSC (Class X) in the Titas River of Bangladesh. Hossen et al (2020a) reported that 60% of fishers were illiterate, 30% were sign only, 8.33% were primary level and 1.67% had only secondary level education in Kirtankhola River, Southern Bangladesh.…”

“…In the present study, 33% family were joint, and 67% were nuclear families (Table 2). Afrad et al (2019) was found that most (52.5%) of the fishers families were nuclear while 47.5% were joint family in the Titas River of Bangladesh. Bappa et al (2014) reported that fishers around the Marjat Baor at Kaligonj in Jhenidah district having 44% joint and 56% nuclear family, which is more or less similar to the present findings.…”

“…The survey found that 60% of the fishers were katcha house with tin roofing, 7% households were katcha house with straw roof, 13% households were semi-paka house, and 20% households were paka house (Figure 5). Afrad et al (2019) was found that more than half (55%) of the fishers had kutcha house, where 32.5% had semi-paka house and 12.5% had half-built house in the Titas River of Bangladesh. Alam et al (1995) reported that in Basantapur beel, 82.22% of households of fishers were kancha, 11.11% were semi-paka, and only 6.66% were paka.…”

Computational study of Richness and Diversity Indices of fish species in rivers and other wetland areas and fish marketplaces under Kurigram District, Banglades

“…A total of 55 fish species found under 10 orders and 20 families were recorded from Titas river [39]. Ali et al [40] studied in Andharmanik river Sanctuary in Bangladesh and found 93 fish species belonging to 66 genera, 45 families and 14 orders where the highest percentage order was Perciformes (27.65%), followed by Cypriniformes (20.21%), Siluriformes (21.28%) Clupeiformes (7.45%) Mastacembeliformes (4.26%) and Channiformes (4.26%).…”

Sustainable Semi-Intensive Aquaculture of Climbing Perch (Anabas testudineus) in Mymensingh Region, Bangladesh: A Comparative Study

“…Fishes contribute to 60% of animal protein intake, about 4.39% of gross domestic product and 2.46% of export earnings; approximately 1.4 million people are directly engaged in fishing, 11 million in part-time fishing and another 3 million in aquaculture activities [1][2][3][4]. However, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh [5] assessed 253 freshwater fish species and revealed 64 as threatened species in Bangladesh, of which 9 were critically endangered, 30 were endangered, 25 were vulnerable, near threatened 27, least concern 122 and 40 data deficient freshwater species [5,6]. The culture of various fish species can help to prevent extinction of these fresh water fish species.…”