An Option for Sustainable Management of Fishery Resources in Deepor Beel Co-management Approach

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An Option for Sustainable Management of Fishery
Resources in Deepor Beel Co-management Approach

• Sujan M. Henkanaththegedara
• ECS 740 Fall 2007

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Outline

• Current status of the fishery
• Composition Production
• Fishery regulation
• Problems
• Unsustainable fishing practices
• Declaration of Wildlife Sanctuary
• Potential impacts of aquaculture
• Possible solutions
• Community based co-management

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Fishery Resources

• 61 freshwater fish species (Saikia 2005)
• 54 indigenous 5 exotics
• 8 protected species (Wildlife protection Act,
  1972)
• 20 economically important
• 11 collect for ornamental trade

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Fishery Production

• Expectation 90,000 tons/ year (Goswami and
  Choudhury 1990)
• Harvest 245 kg/hectare (980 tons)
• Comparatively very high yield (AFDC, Assam)

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Fisher Community

• Traditional fishery
• More than 5000 people/1200 families depend on the
  fishery
• Community fishing during winters.

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Fishery Regulation

• Authority
• Assam Fisheries Development Corporation
• State Fisheries Department
• Lease government parts for commercial fishery
• Private land owners also lease their private land
  

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New Proposals

• Development of pen and cage culture for the
  rearing and propagation fish (Gauhati University,
  Assam)
• Government Authority and some interested parties
  propose aquaculture in fringe areas
• Declaration of Deepor Beel as a Wildlife Sanctuary

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Problems Identified

1. Unsustainable fishing practices
2. Declaration of Wildlife Sanctuary
3. Possible impacts of garbage dumping
4. Impacts of siltation
5. Possible impacts of exotic fish
6. Conservation implications for protected species
7. Potential impacts of aquaculture

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Problems Identified

1. Unsustainable fishing practices
2. Declaration of Wildlife Sanctuary
3. Possible impacts of garbage dumping
4. Impacts of siltation
5. Possible impacts of exotic fish
6. Conservation implications for protected species
7. Potential impacts of aquaculture

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Unsustainable fishing practices

• Impacts
• Harmful fishing methods (eg. small mesh size)
• Potential overharvesting (small size of fish,
  possibly collapse the fishery)
• Possible solutions
• Closed areas/closed seasons
• Ban harmful fishing methods
• Close monitoring of illegal fishing
• Fisheries co-management

(Myers et al. 1997 Hambright and Shapiro 1997 )
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Declaration of Wildlife Sanctuary

• Impacts
• Limitations to the fishery
• Serious conflicts between local people and
  government
• Social and economical problems in local
  communities
• Possible Solutions
• 10-20 core wildlife sanctuary
• Rest- Reserved wetland (human activities
  permitted up to some extent)

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Potential impacts of aquaculture

• Impacts
• Introduction of exotic species
• Pollution
• Eutrophication (mass fish kills!)
• Possible Solutions
• A proper cost-benefit analysis
• If necessary, based on native species
• If necessary, locate beyond the fringe areas

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What to do?

• Beel fishery is still UNDERUTILIZED.
• Need to manage the fishery PROPERLY,
• To meet maximum sustainable yield (MSY)
• To improve the living standards
• To fulfill the local protein requirement
• To reduce the unemployment
• What is the need of AQUACULTURE?

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What is Co-management?

• A partnership arrangement between,
• Government agencies
• Local fisher community
• NGOs
• Other stakeholders
• Share the responsibility and authority for the
  management of a fishery.
• Integrate local (informal, traditional) and
  government management systems.
• Power-sharing between government and fishermen
  (Pomeroy 1998).

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What is Co-management?
Fishers
Government Assam Fish. Dev. Cooperation State
Fish. Dept.
External Agent Aarnayak Gauhati University
Fisheries Stakeholders Boat owners Fish
traders Money lenders
Local stakeholders Tourism Transportation
Modified after Pomeroy 1998
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Co-management
Resource-oriented studies to define fishery
regulations
Implementing fishery regulations
Proper regulation of fishing permits
Monitoring the fishery
Organize fisheries co-operative society
Banning harmful fishing methods
Active government or NGO mediation
Social welfare
Enhance fish production and improve living
standards
Maintenance of fisheries co-operative society
Modified after Amarasinghe and De Silva 1999
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Acknowledgements

• Dr. Achintya N. Bezbaruah, Civil Engineering
  Department, NDSU for his guidance and support
• Dr. Prasanta Kumar Saikia, Department of Zoology,
  Gauhati University, India for kind sharing of
  data
• Fellow colleagues for their valuable inputs

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References cited

• Amarasinghe, U.S. and S.S. De Silva. 1999. Sri
  Lankan reservoir fishery a case for introduction
  of a co-management stratergy. Fisheries
  Management and Ecology. 6 387-399.
• Goswami, B. and A.S. Choudhury. 1990. Deepor
  Beel- A gold mine for socio-economic upliftment.
  Press release. INSTER/ Deepor III/ 89- Misc. 3pp.
• Hambright, K. D. and J. Shapiro. 1997. The 1993
  collapse of the Lake Kinneret bleak fishery.
  Fisheries Management and Ecology. 4 275-283,
• Myers, R. A., J. A. Hutchings and N. J.
  Barrowman. 1997. Why do Fish Stocks Collapse? The
  Example of Cod in Atlantic Canada. Ecological
  Applications. 7 91-106.
• Pomeroy, R. S. 1998. A process for
  community-based fisheries co-management. Naga.
  January-March. ICLARM. 71-76.
• Saikia, P.K. 2005. Qualitative and quantitative
  study of lower and higher organisms and their
  functional role in the Deepor Beel ecosystem. 96
  pp.
• http//gu.nic.in/html/faculty/Zoology.htm.
  Accessed in 11/28/07
• http//www.co-management.org/. Accessed in
  12/08/07
• http//www.seagrant.uconn.edu/COMGMT.PDF.
  Accessed in 12/08/07

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Comments?Questions?