Use of dangerous chemical poison to catch shrimp in the river banks

K. As a result, the price for these fish has more than doubled from less than Rs 100 a few years ago," experts said. Fresh water catch has declined wholesale fish tanks by 80 per cent during the past two decades, prominent among them is Hilsa, which breeds only in fresh water of rivers.Use of dangerous chemical poison to catch shrimp in the river banks has lead to a decline in fresh water shrimp. ."For 17 years now, WSO has been demanding a ban on river and lake fishing during the breeding season, but to no avail.Experts feel there is an urgent need to ensure unhindered fish migration in Odisha’s rivers such as Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani rivers, which are dotted with barrages and dams.Investigations revealed that a large number of fishermen now put up nets at the gates of barrages at Naraj and Mundali and Jobra on the Kathjodi and Mahanadi rivers to catch migrating fish the year round.

It is facing near extinction, while hundreds of other species have disappeared. No action has been taken to arrest the decline of fish population. It is tragic the government is apathetic to this problem that is impacting the livelihood of fishermen of the state," Dr Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, WSO, said.Depletion of a number of native fish species has led to a sharp decline in income of 6.During the monsoon floods, the fish move upstream for spawning purposes. The egg-bearing or gravid fish are caught in large numbers at the barrages, dam gates, canal locks and anicuts. Experts suggest that fish ladders can address this problem.Due to shortage of river fish, the prices in the markets have jumped to as much as Rs 400 per kg which was sold at less than Rs 200 per kg a few years ago.The catch size of freshwater carps has undergone a huge decline