Gears specific Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) with special reference to declining causes of ichthyofauna in the Kajal River of Southern Bangladesh

Abstract

The Kajal River is a coastal water body, having vast aquatic biota which situated at Rangabali upazila under Southern district of Patuakhali in Bangladesh. Different types of fishing gears have been operated in the river to capture aquatic resources especially fishes which were investigated by employing participatory rural appraisal (PRA) such as focus groups (FGD), key informant interviews (KIA) with fisher’s community fishing in the river for a period of 8 months from March 2015 to October 2015. A total of fifteen (15) fishing gears under seven (7) major groups of net were identified. Estimated CPUE of various gears was found highest (5-8 kg) for Current jal and lowest (0.01-.06 kg) for Moia jal. In total, forty three (43) species were recorded belongs to eleven (11) orders, twenty four (24) families and thirty four (34) genera in the catches of different gears. Among the 43 species, 20, 13, 4 and 6 were to be found as available, less available, rare and very rare, respectively. A total of seven (7) vulnerable, two (2) endangered and two (2) critically endangered species were obtained out of 43 species. But these numbers are increasing day by day due to both natural and manmade causes. Therefore, necessary measures should be taken to conserve the species from near extinction.