Electrofishing in Dholla River raises concern at Tinsukia district
Electrofishing in the Dholla River in Tinsukia district by a few miscreants has raised serious concern both in terms of life of water bodies and safety of people involved in the illegal act.
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TINSUKIA: Electrofishing in the Dholla River in Tinsukia district by a few miscreants has raised serious concern both in terms of life of water bodies and safety of people involved in the illegal act. The electrofishing has been done in close proximity to Phelai village under Saikhowa mouza of Ajokha area of the Dholla River, where churning action is very prevalent.
According to reports, the electrofishing is done randomly using generators at night and the fish caught are allegedly transported to a fish processing unit at Guijan by vehicles. The electrofishing site is a habitat of endemic Aari (threadfin catfish) and Chital and is under a fish mahaldar. A local source said that while big fishes are retained, the smaller dead fishes and other organisms are discarded.
Dr SP Biswas, a fish biologist and former professor of Dibrugarh University, said electrofishing is ecologically highly detrimental, illegal and can even result in accidental death due to electrification. Biologically, he said churning action facilitates mixing of nutrients resulting in high growth of plankton that augment high assemblage of fishes and other biota. Most of the legal and illegal fishing are done in churning and whirling areas, he said, adding that few government officials allegedly practice electrofishing using car batteries.
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