All varieties of local small fish are drastically declining in all the nine upazilas of Kurigram district due to fall of water level in the rivers, ponds and water bodies and mother fishes are being caught.

The local hats and bazaars are flooded with high breed indiscriminately to varieties of fish. The price of those fish is so high that those beyond the purchasing capacity of the common people.

A total of 20 varieties of small fish including puti, koi, magur, baim, chital, darka, khoilsa, shoail, shing,gata, boal, mowa, pabda,tengra and bhada are decreasing. The varieties of fishes are not found in the market at present like previous years. The supply of natural fish has been declined drastically.

Once the poor people who live on catching fish of locally known as “Majhi” catch these small species of fish with small boats and are sold  in the market after meeting  the demand of their houses. Some of them were maintained their families with the earning. There was no shortage of these species of fish. Some fishes were dried in the sunny day is called “shutki” which were very popular and tasty among the people Rangpur region especially in Kurigram district.

It is said that the Banglalis are with fish and rice which are disappearing gradually.

The production and increasing generation of these species of fish is decreasing alarmingly as the rivers, canals, ponds, water bodies are dried up using the current nets and pesticides polluting of water bodies, navigability of rivers.

In addition, construction of embankment, decreasing depth of water bodies and canals, earth filling of some water bodies catching mother fishes by irrigation cultivating of big and foreign fishes natural disaster increasing population as well as lack of awareness, sources said.

Manik 56, Dulal40 and Amal 45 fish sellers of Kurigram municipality market told this correspondent that a few number of species if local small fish were available sometimes in the rivers as well as water bodies which will decline in the future, they added.

Andul Wahed 45 a madrasha teacher, Abdur Rashid 43 a businessman and Abdul Malek a govt. employee buyers of small species of fish told in the fish market that we have not found small species of fish.

Although some small species of fishes are found in the market now and then whose prices are so high that it was beyond the purchasing capacity of the commoners.

According to Kurigram District Fishery Official sources, there are 149 water bodies on 1351 hectares of land in the district. Of them, 1141.10 hectares in dry season and 2388.8 hectares in rainy season.

There are 35 species of local variety, 07 varieties of famous, 12 species of rare (about abolish), and 10 species of piscecultured fishes are found. Upazilawise water bodies are follows:

A total of 15 water bodies in 175.1 hectares at Kurigram sadar upazila,16 water bodies in 200 hectares at Ulipur upazila, 24 water bodies in 441.9 hectares at  Nageswari upazila, 21 water bodies in 242 hectares at Bhurungamari upazila, 26 water bodies in 113 hectares at Fulbari upazila, 15 water bodies in 95 hectares at Rajarhat upazila, 11 water bodies in 12 hectares at Chilmari upazila, 12 water bodies in 55 hectares at Roumari upazila and 09 water bodies in 17 hectares at Char Rajibpur upazila,

The awareness among people should be created not to catch small fishes and if both government and public jointly work to increase of breading of small fishes then our district will be full filled with small fishes, concerned officials said.

Kurigram Sadar upazila Senior Fishery Officer Ismot Ara told that we are trying to recover the indigenous fishes. Meanwhile Pabda, Shing, Koi, Magur and other varieties are being cultivated all the district in the country including Kurigram.

Kurigram District Fishery Officer (DFO) Kalipada Roy told that many indigenous fishes have already been recovered by cultivation of fishes. Now the local fishes are available in the markets with high breed fishes.