Khalilur Rahman, 65, has been fishing in a tributary of the old Brahmaputra River in Kishoreganj for 50 years. Nowadays, he often returns home empty-handed.
“The river has dried up. Without enough flow of water, many species of fish have disappeared,” he said.
Khalilur said when he was young, the Brahmaputra had an abundance of fish all year round.
“Even 20 to 30 years ago, I was often able to catch 80 to 90 kilograms [176 to 198 pounds] of fish a day. Now, on many days, I don’t even catch 1 kilogram of fish during the peak season,” he said.
The open waters of the past had plenty of native fish species, many of which have now disappeared.
“Many local fish species including bheda [Gangetic leaffish], Boicha, tengra and pabda have vanished from rivers. Now we get only taki [spotted snakehead] and shing [catfish],” said Khalilur, who lives on the bank of the Jhira Nodi, a tributary of old Brahmaputra River, in Gobaria village under Kuliarchar region in Kishoreganj.
“Fishing used to be my bread and butter, but I had to change my occupation,” said Nazim Uddin, 40, a local. He now works as a farm laborer.
In the past, there were more than 300 native fish species in Bangladesh, but many freshwater fishes have already disappeared while others are on the verge of extinction due to habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and climate change.