Availability of fish decreasing annually in village's fields and rivers

Jhapa,Nepal

The availability of fish in village's water bodies as well as rivers is declining since few years back. People who used to enjoy fishing in rice fields, swamps and rivers have witnessed that they catch less fish than in previous years.

With the increasing use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides, aquatic ecosystem is being severely affected bringing forth more difficult conditions for aquatic animals like fish to survive.

Similarly, industrial as well as hospital garbages and wastages have extremely polluted the rivers making it more hostile for fishes to live.

Due to the heavy rainfall brought by the monsoon winds, the agricultural fields gets filled up. The rivers also swell up. Water flows in high volume in rivers. Most of the places are covered by water. This period is the most favourable time for fishes to breed and grow. So, during rainy season, there are lots of fishes available in these water bodies.

But, as farmers increase the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the fishes in the water bodies are suffering worst chemical pollution. Not only this, industries and hospitals throw their highly lethal garbages and wastages directly into the river. As a result, most of the fishes die due to the toxic environment caused by the harmful chemicals present in water. What's more, the fatal chemicals also alter their abilities to breed as well as their adaptation abilities, which is lessening the population of fish.

Local people are very saddened and worried about the decrement of fish. " It's a very sad to see that fishes are becoming less and less available in our waters. Fishes are not only important to the ecosystem but also for us as they provided us with a major source of income and food. I wish that concerned authorities pay attention to this phenomenon immediately.", says Bibek Bamjan, a local who have been consistently observing the fish deficit in the village. He seeks to come up with the mitigation measures to make things normal.

Interestingly, this is just a warning to us humans that tells us how our own activities are deteriorating the ecosystem and our environment. So, it is our responsibility to take some actions to not let things get worse. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides should be highly reduced. Farmers should be encouraged to apply organic fertilizers in their fields. Similarly, industries and hospitals should dump their trashes only in designated landfill sites. Government should form strict rules and regulations against throwing garbages in the river. When only these steps are taken, we can hope that the number of fishes will rise to normal.