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NEWS - Pollution Threatens Marine F



Subject: NEWS - Pollution Threatens Marine Fisheries in Bay of Bengal

Pollution Threatens Marine Fisheries in Bay of Bengal

DHAKA (Sept. 24) XINHUA - Massive pollution in the Bay of Bengal is
threatening the stock of marine fisheries, and the volume of fishing in
Bangladesh has declined alarmingly in the last few years, the official
BSS news agency reported Friday. 

Experts apprehended that fisheries resources might be reduced further,
and fin-fish and shell-fish would once be on the verge of extinction if
pollution in the Bay of Bengal's water continues. 

Industrial toxic waste, oil spilling, dumping of trash fish, illegal and
over-fishing, siltation and flood water stagnation, increase in inland
wastes, artificial hatcheries, ignorance of fishermen about the bay's
fish stock and mismanagement of the marine sector have caused the
decrease in fisheries resources, they said. 

The Bay of Bengal is enriched with nutrients, supplied by a network of
rivers and their tributaries. The marine fisheries resources in the
water area of the bay covering an area of about 70,000 square kilometers
are highly potential and the fishing ground in the bay is considered to
be one of the best in tropical countries. 

Around 1.5 million people in Bangladesh depend on fishing in the Bay of
Bengal, and nearly 350,000 of them are marine fishermen along the
country's 710-kilometer coast. 

The fishermen operating about 16,000 coastal fishing vessels, of which
only around 6,000 are licensed, produce an average 250,000 tons of
marine fish every year. 

There are indications that chemical ingredients used in dry fish and
pesticide residue seeping into sea waters have deteriorated the marine
eco-system which ultimately will also have adverse effect on
zoo-plankton and phyto-plankton, the BSS said. 

Industrial effluent including that of shrimp hatcheries is also
threatening the future fish growth, and the degradation of the marine
environment will subsequently affect the prospects of fish resources
development and various economic development in the bay. 

A survey by the Fisheries Resources Institute of the Department of
Fisheries, Chittagong University, revealed that the use of pesticides
has increased by 400 percent since 1977. Agro-chemicals are major
sources of marine pollution, and frequent spills during oil
transportation also contribute to the degradation of marine environment. 

And hundreds of tons of oil from prolonged anchored vessels around the
country's sea ports and thousands of other fishing trawlers is degrading
the marine environment, he said. 

Industrial belts close to the bay are continuously discharging solid and
liquid wastes into the coastal and marine water. 

If such wide-scale marine water pollution continues, the marine fishes
one day will be compelled to change their habitation and migrate to
Indian and Myanmar ocean, Khan said. 

To sustain a healthy and balanced environment, the experts urged the
government to bring the violators of environmental laws to book and
suggested introducing mother vessels for collecting small fish thrown
away by small fishing boats and creating awareness among fishermen to
prevent the hunting of small and low-priced fish fry.