Mostafa Hossain

Fish farmer associations offer the potential to support the development of small-scale fish producers and hatchery owners in Bangladesh, through collective bargaining power and receipt of technical assistance. In this study the contribution and constraints that such associations possess is evaluated, through assessment of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats, and evaluation on whether the critical attributes of strength, empowerment and sustainability means such associations will be able to prosper in Bangladesh. The study canvassed stakeholder opinion using key informant interviews using a structured questionnaire and workshops to inform the SWOT analysis and
consideration of the extent to which current associations have the necessary attributes to succeed. The report highlights the key typologies of associations, membership and leadership structures, activities undertaken, linkages to government and supplier of services including inputs, and access to service and extension activities, including
credit; and the extent to which these contribute to strong, empowered and sustainable associations. Aquaculture has long been an important livelihood option for millions of people in Bangladesh, providing low-cost high-quality animal protein supplied predominantly through small-scale producers. The reports highlights to extent to which associations can help and support expansion and improvement in profits and livelihoods.
Most associations in Bangladesh operate at a local level, often at an informal level which generally stop operating for several reasons and would benefit from an apex organization to support fish producers and hatchery operators across the country, as well as district associations. At a district level, the unregistered Jessore District Fish Hatchery Owners
Association is the most successful and provides a useful assessment of how good leadership, an active membership and financial security provide for a strong, empowered and sustainable association at the local level. Nationally, the newly formed and soon to be formally registered (with government) Bangladesh Fish Hatchery and Culture
Association (BFHCA) is already showing good leadership, effective management and developing activity that will support members, although government support is needed to ensure the association is able to actively support Bangladesh aquaculture policy and
strategy, and receives sufficient government and extension service support, as the country tries to increase production. The study concludes by suggesting several policy-oriented recommendations for Government, and action-oriented recommendations for associations
to improve long-term sustainability for aquaculture associations in Bangladesh.

Deltas are home to a large and growing proportion of the world's population, often living in conditions of extreme poverty. Deltaic ecosystems are ecologically significant as they support high biodiversity and a variety of fisheries, however these coastal environments are extremely vulnerable to climate change. The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (Bangladesh/India), the Mahanadi (India), and the Volta (Ghana) are among the most important and populous delta regions in the world and they are all considered at risk of food insecurity and climate change. The fisheries sector is vital for populations that live in the three deltas, as a source of animal protein (in Bangladesh and Ghana around 50-60% of animal protein is supplied by fish while in India this is about 12%) through subsistence fishing, as a source of employment and for the wider economy. The aquaculture sector shows a rapid growth in Bangladesh and India while in Ghana this is just starting to expand. The main exported species ...

Aquatic ecosystems are of global importance for maintaining high levels of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and for the number of livelihoods dependent on them. In Bangladesh, coastal and delta communities rely on these systems for a livelihood, and the sustainability of the productivity is seriously threatened by both climate change and unsustainable management. These multiple drivers of change shape the livelihood dependence and adaptation responses, where a better understanding is needed to achieve sustainable management in these systems, while maintaining and improving dependent livelihoods. This need has been addressed in this study in the region of Satkhira, in the southwest coast of Bangladesh, where livelihoods are highly dependent on aquatic systems for food supply and income. Traditional wild fish harvest in the rivers and aquaculture systems, including ghers, ponds, and crab points have been changing in terms of the uses and intensity of management, and suffering from...

Bangladesh is ranked 3rd largest in inland fisheries in Asia behind China and India.The aquatic biodiversity of the country has been attributed to the world’s one of the largest wetlands (Bengal Delta) and three large river systems (Brahmaputra, Ganges and Jamuna) that flow from the Himalayan Mountains into the Bay of Bengal. Huge inland fisheries resources supply fish and other aquatic animals and plants to millions of people living in the Delta. Recent acceleration of production from culture fishery (1.46 million tons of fish) in Bangladesh has yet to ease fishing pressure in large rivers and other water bodies. It is expected that the demand for fish will reach over 4 million tons by year 2020. Unfortunately, over-harvesting of fish is likely to continue and place greater pressure on most of the water bodies. The country will face the biggest risks from global warming in the next 30 years. This has already been sinking over wintering habitat for the fish species Due to the decrea...

Chalan beel, the largest natural depression in Bangladesh is under threat due to population pressure, over exploitation, change of water courses, pollution and siltation. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the habitat and biodiversity status in dry and wet seasons through MODIS AQUA 250 m images and Geographical Information Systems supported by field data from July 2010 to June 2012. The MODIS data of 2002 and 2008 were collected and analyzed to perceive the water availability, extend of water area and variety of fishes found round the year. The False Colour Composite images of blue, near infra-red and mid infra-red bands and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index of 2002 and 2008 were prepared to perform the land use and land cover changes. The data interpretation showed the trend of water receding tendency from wet to dry season in 2002 and 2008 images respectively. The occurrence of moderate and high vegetation was comparatively higher in 2002 images than in 2008. Moreove...

An experiment was conducted to study the biodiversity status of freshwater loaches of Bangladesh. Data and fish sample collection were carried out mainly in the Sylhet-Mymensingh basin comprising the two districts namely Sylhet and Mymensingh. Fish samples were also collected from Dinajpur and Thakurgaon districts. The study was based on fish landing centre and fish market visit, on the spot data collection, interview of the fishermen and the fish traders, sample collector and secondary data collection. According to the available literatures, the number of freshwater loaches in Bangladesh is 24. However, during the study, only 16 species under 3 families were found. The highest numbers of loach species (9) were found from the family Cobitidae. Among the collected species, some are used as food fish in Bangladesh and the rest can be considered as ornamental fish. Among the total number of species found during the study, 2 species were considered as threatened based on IUCN (2000) lis...

The microsatellite genotyping technique was used to reconstruct sibship and estimate pairwise relatedness among individuals of Labeo calbasu collected from four natural and one hatchery stocks. The mean values for the number of alleles, observed and expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content of the five microsatellite markers used for genotyping 165 individuals were 6.00, 0.622, 0.743 and 0.699 respectively. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg expectation was detected at four of the five loci. The number of reconstructed half-sib family was lowest in the Hatchery sample. The number of full-sib family was lowest in the Jamuna river sample and highest in the Haor sample. The numbers of reconstructed families were fewer in the real sample compared to the simulated sample of the same number of unrelated individuals. The mean relatedness coefficients r xyW was found to be highest in the Jamuna river sample and lowest in the Hatchery sample, though no difference was observed in...

A study was conducted to provide an overview on the aquatic resources and fisheries status of the Chalan beel and to identify the opportunities for improvement of the existing fisheries management strategies, focusing on fish biodiversity conservation. The Chalan beel is the largest and important watershed in the Northern Bangladesh which covers an area of about 400 km2 during the wet season. Sampling for Catch Assessment Surevey (CAS), Fishing Effort Survey (FES) and water sediment was carried out at the Gumani, the Katagang and the Baral sites. Interview and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted in ten upazilas in and around Chalan beel. The most abundant fish species were punti (Puntius sophore and Puntius ticto) followed by chanda (Chanda nama and Parambassis ranga), tengra (Mystus vittatus) and chapila (Gudusia chapra). The abundance of several species showed decreasing trend from 2007 to 2008. The number of professional fishers has declined by 58% between 1982 and 2008...

Hatchery production of common carp seed has been practiced for several decades in Bangladesh but information on sperm biology of induced broods is limited. The study aimed to determine the sperm biology artificially induced broods to improve the current hatchery management. Sperm volume, motility, concentration and pH were 2.04±1.07 µl g-1 of fish, 93±3 %, 1.77±0.49×1010 cells ml-1 and 7.59±0.29, respectively. There has been a substantial variation (p<0.05) in volume (µl g-1 of fish), concentration (×1010 cells ml-1) and motility (%) among the fortnightly collected sperm samples. The motility (%) of the fresh sperm was similar in all the activation media tested, however, sperm were motile for longer duration in 0.3% than in 0.2% NaCl, tap water and distilled water. Sperm biology of the induced broods would be useful in breeding programs advancing the development of aquaculture of the species.

An on-farm trial was carried out in 12 earthen ponds at the Montala Village, Muktagacha, Mymensingh for a period of 4 months (July-October 2003) to assess the potential of increasing pond fish production by growing dhaincha (Sesbania rostrata) in the pond bottom. The experiment consisted of four treatments each with three replications with an object of replacement for the use of fertilizers in fish production. In treatment-I (T1) dhaincha without fertilizer, in treatment-II (T2) dhaincha with 25% fertilizer, in treatment-III dhaincha with 50% fertilizer and in treatment-IV (T4) dhaincha with 100% fertilizer were used. Dhaincha seed was sown at 100 gx40m-2 from bottom to dike. After 50 days of sowing dhaincha on the moist pond bottom, lime and fertilizer were used and fish fry were released after watering the ponds. The stocking density of rohu (Labeo rohita), catla (Catla catla), mrigal (Cirrhinus cirrhihosus), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and Thai sarputi (Puntius goni...

A study was conducted to know the biodiversity status of freshwater barbs. The study covered the key water bodies-river, floodplains, haors and beels along with fish markets and landing centers under ten districts namely Kishoreganj, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Sylhet and Sunamganj, Chandpur, Comilla, Satkhira, Chapainawabganj and Dinajpur. Eleven species under the family of Cyprinidae were recorded. Among the observed species two were found to be threatened (1 critically endangered and 1 vulnerable) according to IUCN red list. The single critically endangered species observed was a barb, Puntius sarana. Variations were found in the availability, distribution and richness of the species among the areas. Species diversity of barbs was found to be higher in river and streams compared to other water bodies. Puntius sophore, Puntius chola were the most common. Puntius sarana and Puntius terio were the rarest and also in small numbers. The present paper highlights the present situation of bar...

Cryopreservation as a technique has long been used successfully in human, livestock and more recently in fishes. Cryogenic storage (-196 °C, the temperature of liquid N2) of sperm of an endangered, and popular freshwater fish of Bangladesh - spiny eel, Mastacembelus armatus(Lacepede, 1800) was attempted for ex-situ conservation. Sperm were collected in 0.9% NaCl solution (287 mOsmol kg-1) from artificially induced males and activated with 0.2% NaCl (67 mOsmol kg-1) for motility analysis. Motility of the freshly collected sperm was 85% and retained the capacity of forward movement for 170s. The one-step freezing (from 5 °C to-80 °C at 10 °C/min) was carried out in a computer controlled freezer (FREEZE CONTROL® CL-3300; Australia) to cryopreserve the sperm. The highest motility (%) of the post freeze sperm were 52.22 ± 5.27 (mean ± SD) when equilibrated with 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 48.89 ± 8.66 (mean ± SD) with 10% methanol. The result suggests that sperm of can be cryoprese...

Poverty and malnutrition remain largely a rural phenomenon in Bangladesh and huge discrepancy exists across economic groups and gender. This article presents the fish consumption status of the poorer section of the community. The average per capita per day fish consumptions were 34 g among village households and 26 g among slum households which are lower than the national average of 37 g and international standard requirement of 49g. Wome n a n d g i r l c h i l d r e n consumed the least fish in the households.

Fish and fisheries are important for the livelihoods, food, and income of the rural population in Bangladesh. Increased rice production and changing agricultural patterns have resulted in a large decline in inland fisheries. Implementation of carp pond polyculture has been very successful, whereas little focus has been given to the commonly consumed small indigenous fish species, some of which are rich in vitamin A and minerals, such as calcium, iron, and zinc, and are an integral part of the rural diet. The overall objective of the research and capacity-building activities described in this paper is to increase the production, accessibility, and intake of nutrient-dense small indigenous fish species, in particular mola (Amblypharyngodon mola), in order to combat micronutrient deficiencies. The large contribution from small indigenous fish species to recommended intakes of vitamin A and calcium and the perception that mola is good for or protects the eyes have been well documented. ...

An investigation was carried out in the Matshaya Rani (fish queen) Fish sanctuary to evaluate the hydrographic status, natural food and SIS (small indigenous species) abundance in the old Brahmaputra River near the BAU campus. There were three treatment sites- inside sanctuary, upstream and downstream of the sanctuary named as treatments T1, T2 and T3, respectively. A number of water quality parameters such as temperature (°C), transparency (cm), depth (cm), water velocity (m sec-1), pH,dissolved oxygen (mg l-1), conductivity (?s cm-1), TDS (mg l-1), alkalinity (mg l-1), phosphate-phosphorus (mg l-1), nitratenitrogen (mg l-1), ammonia-nitrogen (mg l-1) and chlorophyll-a (?g l-1) were recorded and were found within the suitable range for natural food and SIS in different treatments. Among all the water quality parameters, only water transparency and depth showed significant difference (P < 0.05) among the treatments. Forty three genera of phytoplankton belonging to Bacillariophyce...

The study was aimed at standardization of cryopreservation protocol for the commoncarp, (Cyprinus carpio) spermatozoa for using in the artificial propagation. Three extenders(Alsever’s solution, egg-yolk citrate and 0.9% NaCl) were combined with three cryoprotectants(ethanol, methanol and DMSO). Two-step freezing protocol (5°C to -4°C at a rate of 4°C per minutethen -4°C to -80°C at a rate of 10°C per minute and finally held for 10 min) was carried out in acomputer-controlled freezer where 0.25 ml straws containing spermatozoa were stored in a liquidnitrogen container at -196°C. Alsever’s solution with ethanol, Alsever’s solution with methanol andegg yolk citrate with DMSO gave better motility (%) in both pre-freeze (93.33±1.05, 90±1.83 and88.33±2.11, respectively) and post-thaw (80±4.28, 74.17±3.96 and 76.67±4.59, respectively)periods whereas, 10% cryoprotectant gave the best motility during post-thaw period. Consideringboth pre-freeze and post-thaw motilities of the common carp sp...

ABSTRACT Despite the success in fertilization and hatching of fish eggs with cryopreserved sperm, report on growth and survival of larvae produced from frozen- thawed sperm is inadequate. The study evaluates the applicability of cryopreserved sperm for mass seed production by comparing the growth and survival of a popular food-fish olive barb, Puntius sarana (Hamilton 1822) larvae produced from cryopreserved and fresh sperm. The eggs were artificially fertilized with cryopreserved and freshly collected sperm, and the growth and survival of produced larvae from both group recorded up to 12 weeks. The independent sample t-test statistic showed the difference in lengths, t(718) = 0.241; P = 0.810 and weights, t(718) = 0.412; P = 0.680 were insignificant between two groups. There was also no significant difference, t(718) = �0.758, P = 0.448 in survival of larvae produced from cryopreserved and freshly collected sperm. The study indicates that larvae of olive barb produced from cryopreserved sperm are equally compatible in growth and survival as the larvae produced from fresh sperm. Therefore, cryopreserved sperm can be applied for artificial fertilization of P. sarana to supply quality seed for aquaculture.

Groups of 3–4 g African catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell, 1822; Family: Clariidae) were offered feeds of two types in three combinations: feed with a radio-opaque marker (Ballotini, 0.16–0.25 mm), feed without marker and a 50:50 mixture of marked and unmarked feeds. Stomach contents were estimated by X-radiography and gastrectomy just after meal termination and at different time intervals (4, 8,

ABSTRACT This study reports on the spermatological properties, and on the development of a protocol for refrigerator storage (4°C) of Labeo calbasu (Hamilton, 1822) sperm for artificial breeding. Volume, motility, concentration and pH of the freshly collected sperm were 2.21 ± 0.53 (lL g_1 of fish weight) (mean ± SD), 95 ± 1 (%), 1.93 ± 0.44 9 109 (cells mL_1) and 7.56 ± 0.17 respectively. Sperm activation was evaluated at different osmolalities of NaCl solution, and motility ceased completely when osmolality of the extender was _287 mOsmol kg_1. Sperm retained motility for 24, 72 and 108 h, after refrigerator storage when sperm were undiluted, suspended in Alsever’s solution and suspended in Alsever’s solution containing 5% methanol respectively. Fertilization rate of fresh eggs with sperm stored at 4°C in Alsever’s solution and Alsever’s solution containing 5% methanol was 77% and 60% with a hatching rate of 60% and 43% respectively. The fertilization and hatching success of the stored sperm suggests potential to use refrigeration for transporting genetic material to hatcheries for artificial breeding of L. calbasu in Bangladesh.

A sperm cryopreservation protocol for the Indian major carp, Labeo calbasu, was developed for long-term preservation and artificial fertilization. Milt collected from mature male fish were placed in Alsever's solution (296mOsmolkg(-1)) to immobilize the sperm. Cryoprotectant toxicity was evaluated by motility assessment with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and methanol at 5, 10 and 15% concentrations. DMSO was more toxic at higher concentrations than methanol, and consequently 15% DMSO was excluded from further study. A one-step cooling protocol (from 5 to 80°C) with two cooling rates (5 and 10°C/min) was carried out in a computer-controlled freezer (FREEZE CONTROL(®) CL-3300; Australia). Based on post-thaw motility, the 10°C/min cooling rate with either 10% DMSO or 10% methanol yielded significantly higher (P=0.011) post-thaw motility than the other rate and cryoprotectant concentrations. Sperm thawed at 40°C for 15s and fresh sperm were used to fertilize freshly collected L. calbasu eggs and significant differences were observed (P=0.001) in percent fertilization between cryopreserved and fresh sperm as well as among different sperm-to-egg ratios (P=0.001). The highest fertilization and hatching rates were observed for thawed sperm at a sperm-to-egg ratio of 4.1×10(5):1. The cryopreservation protocol developed can facilitate hatchery operations and long-term conservation of genetic resources of L. calbasu.

Bangladesh is endowed with a vast expanse of inland open waters characterized by rivers, canals, natural and man-made lakes, freshwater marshes, estuaries, brackish water impoundments and floodplains. The potential fish resources resulting from these are among the richest in the world; in production, only China and India outrank Bangladesh. The inland fish diversity of is attributed to the habitats created by the Bengal Delta wetlands and the confluence of the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Jamuna rivers that flow from the Himalayan Mountains into the Bay of Bengal. There are, however, serious concerns surrounding the slow decline in the condition of open water fish stocks which have been negatively impacted upon through a series of natural and anthropogenic induced changes including large scale abstraction of water for irrigation and the construction of water barrages and dams, human activity resulting in the overexploitation of stocks, the unregulated introduction of exotic stocks and po...