Fisheries Management of Haor

The word “haor” is derived from the bengali word sagor meaning sea.Haor is large bowl/saucer
shaped floodplain depression located in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh.There are 400
haor located in Bangladesh.Most of them are located on the districts of Sunamganj , Sylhet,
Habiganj, Maluvibazar, Netrakona, Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria Haor are the most productive
ecosystem and it has huge number of environmental, economic and social value.The major haor
of Bangladesh is Hakaluki haor, Tanguar haor, Hail haor etc.
Hakaluki haor is the largest freshwater wetland in asia.The area of hakaluki haor is 18,115
hectares. It extends across Moulvibazar district to Baralekha (40%), Kulaura (30%), and Sylhet
district Fenchuganj (15%), Golapganj (10%) and Beanibazar (5%).This haor has 80-90 beel.
Tanguar haor is the second largest freshwater wetland in Bangladesh.It is the second Ramsar site
in the Bangladesh.The area of taguar haor is 9,727 hectares.It is located at the Sunamganj
district.Tanguar haor support 200 types of fish species.
Hakaluki Haor
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Geography and Geology of Haor:
Most of the of the haor in Bangladesh are located on Sunamganj, Habiganj, Moulvibazar districts
and Sylhet Sadar Upazila, as well as Kishoreganj and Netrokona districts outside the core haor
area. It is a mosaic of wetland habitats, including rivers, streams and irrigation canals, large areas
of seasonally flooded cultivated plains, and hundreds of haors and beels.Some experts divided
into three zones by standards of morphology and hydrology:
 The piedmont area: This area around the foothills of the Himalaya is the most elevated
zone.
 The floodplain area: The floodplains, with milder slopes, are located at the middle of
the basin.
 Deeply flooded area: This deepest part of the wetlands is known more as the beel.
During monsoon the beels and floodplains become deeply flooded and turn into a single
water reservoir.
Resources of Haor:
The life and livelihood on Bangladesh is dependent on the wetlands. The lakes are the source of
fisheries, aquatic vegetations and other biodiversity, irrigation, navigation and flood control etc.
 Fisheries resources:About 140 species of freshwater fishes are captured from.Sixty three
species of fishes were recorded from the water bodies of Chanda Beel (Chakraborty et.al.,
2005). The haors are the source and reserves of the brood stock of fish haor.Tangua is
one of the famous breeding ground for native crabs and flat fishes (Chital) of the country.
 Biodiversity:Not only the aquatic biodiversity including, fish, snails,turtle etc,but many
of the lakes supports different types of terrestrial and aquatic vegetations. Around 400
species of migratory birds visited Bangladesh.Tangur Haor is an important Ramsar
site.Haor spport a great variety of tree such as Barringtonia acutangular, Ponogamia
pinnata, Typha elephantina, Ocimum americanum etc.
 Agriculture:The haor are are used as a agriculture land in winter.The flooded fields in
the monsoon became rich with minerals and are very fertile.
 Flood control:Bangladesh is a low lying area. Because of its location, water of the
Ganga-Bramaputa catchments flows through Bangladesh. The lakes act as natural
reserves of the water.
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Management of Haor in Bangladesh:
Fisheries management is the activity of protecting fishery resources so sustainable exploitation is
possible, drawing on fisheries science, and including the precautionary principle. Modern
fisheries management is often referred to as a governmental system of appropriate management
rules based on defined objectives and a mix of management means to implement the rules.
Bangladesh Water Development Board is the main government body to manage the lakes..As the
principal agency of the government for managing water resources of the country, it was given the
responsibility of accomplishing the tasks of executing flood control, drainage and irrigation
projects to boost up productivity in agriculture and fisheries.Many others Government and Non-
Government organization are working for management of haor
Government Organization:
 Department of Fisheries (DOF)
 Department of Environment (DOE)
 Ministry of Fisheries
 Local Government Engineering Department (LGED)
 Space Research and Remote Sensing organization.
Non-government organizations:
 Bangladesh POUSH
 Center for Natural Resource Studies
 Bangladesh POUSH
 Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies
 IUCN
Diversified Fishing Gear:
Some of fish net such as gill net,lift net,drag net,push net are used.Others gear such as hook and
line (long line, hand line, real line), fish trap (dughair, polo), woundling gear
(konch,borsha),fishing craft(Boat) are used to capture fish from Haor.
Harvesting of Fish :
During monsoon fish are usually captured & harvested from Haor in Bangladesh.The major
species are captured from are punti,boal,rui,tengra,ayre,gang magur,baim,tara, gutum,gulsh,
kakia,beti mach etc.
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Recommendation:
 Use of herbicide for rice culture should be ban in haor area.
 Fishing should be banned during bredding season.
 Fisheries law should be applied strictly.
 World climate change should be taken in concern.
 Dams should be repair every year.
 Prohibit over fishing in haor.
Problem meets in Haor management:
 Flash flood
 River bank erosion and wave action
 Siltation and sedimentation of major rivers
 Fragile and inadequate road network
 Indiscriminate harvest of natural resources
 Weakness in leasing system for fisheries
 Illiteracy
Conclusion:
The haors play an important role in the fish production for rural people.Most freshwater fish
species are captured from haor.Rural people depend on haor for both fish and crop production.So
we should keep more attention about fisheries management of haor in Bangladesh.
Reference:
 Abdul Wahab akonda,1989.A directory of Asian wetland
 Chakraborty, Tapas Ranjan (2005). Management of Haors, Baors, and Beels in
Bangladesh
 Haque, M. Inamul (2012),Haors and Wetlands
 Ved Arya,Community Based Sustainable Management of Tanguar Haor,Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation, Bangladesh