Mostafa Alam
Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, Riverine Station, Chandpur 3602, Bangladesh.
A.K. Yousuf Haroon
Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, Riverine Station, Chandpur 3602, Bangladesh.
G.C. Haldar
Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, Riverine Station, Chandpur 3602, Bangladesh.
M.A. Mazid
Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, Mymensingh 2201.
Open water fishery, Gears, Species composition, Socio-economics
Sylhet, Bangladesh
Resource Development and Management
Data were collected for four years during 1994 to 1998. Fish harvest data were collected from fish landing centers of 12 randomly selected different beels covering the entire area of Sylhet division. Pre-tested questionnaires were used to collect data. Data were collected at fortnight intervals. Fishers were interviewed to know their present day's catch and their previous day's fishing activities in this area. Generally, 8-10 of the potential fishers was interviewed from each landing center. As none of the respondents maintained, the records of previous day's fishing, expenses, catch and earnings, data were based on the memory of the respondent fisherman. While the weight of present day's catch was taken in g by a pan balance and grouped according to habitat and closely related species. Since time of the day for the survey varied from six O'clock in the morning to often eight O'clock at night, the selection of fisherman was random. Information were collected for weight of the catch, gear type, time spent for fishing, species composition, number of fishers involved, expenses, income, etc. In general at least two types of gear were used in any given month hence, information about the exploitation of a wide variety of fish were obtained. Fishers of Sylhet basin used a variety of fishing method on any given day. Therefore, fishers selected for interviews were representative to the relative proportion of different types of gear employed. Fish production was estimated from nine sampled beels of different micro-ecological categories. Monthly fish catch was estimated by physically monitoring the daily random catch, while annual catch was estimated by summing the monthly catches.
The weight of the catch from each type of gear was taken as a whole without segregation into different species of fish harvested, as fishers were anxious to sell their catch in the closest landing center or market within the shortest possible time. In this estimation, the changes in fishing effort due to weather condition (bad or good), taxes or toll (high or less) were reflected by the average number (increase or decrease) of fisher engaged in the basin per day rather than the number of possible fishing days/month.
Water quality monitoring: Sub-surface (0.2 m) water samples were analyzed at the site once in a month from Beri beel of Moulavibazar in 1996 and Medol bee of Horipur, Sylhet region in 1997. Water temperature, dissolved oxygen and free carbondioxide content, pH, nitrite-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, total hardness and alkalinity were analyzed during January through December with a HACH water kit.
Data analyses: Since the primary purpose of this study was to establish a baseline data of Sylhet basin fishery, much of the analysis is descriptive and some inferences were drawn from these. CPUE, monthly and annual fish yields have been calculated to describe the seasonal patterns of the fishery.
Bangladesh]. Fish. Res., 5(1),2001: 1-12
Journal