Tipping off the Balance
(Published at Morning Tea)
Khairul Kuader
The Bay of Bengal, the largest bay in the world is going to face rapid demises of deep sea fishes like Bluefin Tuna, Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Broadbill Swordfish, Spotted Eagle Rays, Striped Marlin and dolphin due to some greedy fishers, mass awareness. For some culprits catching sea fishes becomes a very lucrative business.
If this prolongs looting the sea fishes in this way, marine diversity conservation experts are perceived that, an acute natural disaster in sea food will be coming closer to the early future. They also warn that predator fishes in oceans on alarming decline, and sea will be fishless as its ecosystem will be fall.
The Bay of Bengal encloses large scale of sea species which forms the north-eastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka to the west and Myanmar, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (part of India) to the east which occupies an area of 2,172,000 km².
Investigating in Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong Fisheries Ghat (Sea fish dumping station) some greedy local fishers still catching Tiger Shark, Rays, Bluefin Tuna and Dolphin for more benefits despite of ruling out on marine fishing. According to marine diversity experts, to conservation of marine diversity as friendly government should impose strict rules on fishing stating that which fish would catch and which will not.
‘Everyone cheated,’ said Liakat Hossain, a Maji (Captain) from Cox’s Bazar ‘There were rules, but we didn’t follow them. Sea is a gift from God, so there is no fear to get trouble in future as God put unlimited food reserve in the sea, so don’t be tense and go back to your job’, he suggested this reporter while asking him about the coming disaster if they continue to catch those fishes.
This reporter later asked him to know why they are catching this, he replied, ‘Look this Shark, it is a gold piece, its every parts is very worthy which four times profitable from the other fishes like Hilsha. Fins are very popular for soup, the fins and gills will go to China, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Koria and Bangkok’.
‘And flash will be dried for malt for which we will get about $40/kg. For the smaller, coldwater shark fin, the price is as little as $6/kg.’, he added.
According to the expert, people catch these fishes for bone, meal, excellent source of phosphorus and calcium with a small amount of nitrogen while it is much popular as a substitute for regular bone meal, for which it is more demanded in the world.
Marine Biologist, Ashraful Azam Khan, who is also an Associate Professor from The Department of the Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries at the Chittagong University, warns that at stake is more than the mere loss of a favorite source of sushi. Bluefin tuna, he says, are near the top of the food chain and their demise will have dire consequences for marine ecosystems. Without large predators, entire food chains may erode, leaving the seas overrun by millions of jelly fish and micro-organisms.
Talking with the different fisher men from Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong, they confirmed there are huge demand of sea fishes in China, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Koria and Bangkok. They cut off Swim Bladder, Lateral Line, Gills and Fins such as dorsal, anal fins from the predator fishes.
While Shark finning is a black market trade that rakes in over US$1 billion each year, some researchers believe that from 1996 to 2000, 26 to 73 million sharks were traded yearly while 100 million sharks were killed, shares experts from Bangladesh.
Shark fin soup is a highly delicious dish for the fast-growing and increasingly rich middle-class in mainland China. Overall, the Asian market continues to grow by an estimated 5% per year as shark fin soups at high price while it is often used by the wealthy people to impress guests or at celebrations. Shark fins are also used in traditional Asian cures, because the shark species has survived for over 400 million years.
Wikipedia.org also reports that Hong Kong is a hub for up to 80% of the world trade for shark fin. The European Union ships delivered one third of all shark fins to Hong Kong while Spain is the largest supplier. Other EU countries involved in the international trade of shark fins via Hong Kong are Norway, Britain, France, Portugal and Italy.
Non-EU fin traders include Taiwan, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Yemen, India, Japan and Mexico.
‘We have proper rules and guidance on deep sea fishing but poor fishers are not following them due to lack of awareness and still continue to catch fishes what they get from the sea, if government create mass awareness it will be change’, says Dr. Md. Shahab Uddin, senior scientist, Marine Fisheries & Technology Station of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute in Cox’s Bazar.
Along side, many poor fishers aim at the giant sharks from the deep sea for collecting shark teeths. From the field investigation, this reporter found that different kind of spices like Belt Fish, Mahi-Mahi (Dolphin-fish), Skates, Rays, Dover Sole, Tounge Sole and Tiger Shark are being caught at a large scale particularly in Cox’s Bazar.
Catching Striped Marlin, Black Marlin, Blue Marlin, Broadbill, Sailfish, Shortbill, Spearfish, Tuna, Tiger Shark, Mako Shark, Giant Trevally, Kingfish, Dorado, Wahoo, Barracuda, Tampa Bay Rays, Spotted Eagle Rays, Manta Ray and Cuttle fish are the common scenario in Cox’s Bazar. Fisher men are becoming happier while they catch these rare fishes, even they don’t seem happy while they catch other general sea fishes.
According to a Journal it is about 95% of wastage parts as protein foods from shark goes to poor developing countries like Costa Rica and Equador that, ironically, depend on shark meat as a food staple.
Relatively dried shark fins can retail for more than US $300 per pound. One whale shark fin was valued at US $10,000 while shark meat will be packed after being dried for EU market.
Each year, thousands of tons of fishes have been illegally caught and traded, which rises higher between 1998 and 2007 in the black market. This black market includes more than one out of every three Bluefin caught, conservatively valued at $400 million per year, according to a report.
However, one large fish can fetch more than $100,000 in Japan, which consumes around 80 percent of the global Bluefin market. The widely hunted Bluefin has also become a bellwether, the latest threatened species in a feeding frenzy that has seen the disappearance of as much as 90 percent of the ocean’s large fish, says the research report.
However ‘In 2050: Will there be fish in the ocean?’ this question rose at American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in this year. Scientists say that absence of predators, the fisheries will be out of balance and more subject to mass die-offs from disease and from boom-and-bust cycles that, over time, can lead to algae or bacteria blooms that take the oxygen out of the waters and make them uninhabitable.
Jacqueline Alder from the U.N. Environment Program suggested that fishing boat license have to be restricted. ‘If we can do this immediately, we will see a decline in fish hunting. However, that will give an opportunity for the fish stocks to rebuild and expand their populations,’ she said at media.
Interestingly, in Bangladesh the government encourage for hunting deep sea fish by providing license to 50 fishing boats which allegedly owned by Awami League influenced.
World Marine Fisheries policy is changing to save the marine bio-diversity while many countries come forward under this same voice and some nations and regions have already passed shark finning regulations such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, European Union, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Republic of the Maldives, South Africa and United States.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, however, encouraged to looting sea and experts believed that in near future we are going to demises the sea food reservation.
KHAMIN 