Two siblings, Nobel and Pavel, appear on their social networks deals with and YouTube channel as animal fans and caretakers to lots of unique types.
The siblings curate a ‘small zoo’, housing imported ducks, bunnies, dogs, cats and fish, at Naria upazila of Shariatpur district. They frequently captivate their fans with videos of how they look after the animals and preserve their zoo.
On 7 June this year, Nobel and Pavel published a vlog with a Bangla title stating they have actually brought a crocodile to their mini zoo. The title likewise notes ‘Alligator Gar, Albino Arowana, Shovelnose Catfish, and Bass Fish’ in English. All are meat-eating and aggressive towards little fish.
In the vlog, Pavel is seen buying the alien fish from a Katabon-based family pet shop in Dhaka. The shop attendant, while fishing out the unique animals from big fish tanks, remarks how stunning the fish would be as soon as they reach maturity.
The video likewise reveals Pavel bring the bought fish in a covered polystyrene foam box and taking a trip to Shariatpur from Dhaka. Another vlog, a follow-up of the previous video, one month later on reveals Nobel feeding the growing alligator gars that are now housed in a concrete water tank.
Nobel did not react to duplicated call.
According to Department of Fisheries authorities, importing alien fish should obtain approval from the department. And if the types appear hazardous to regional fish, an importer will not get the green signal. The department has actually already prohibited the import, circulation and culture of sucker fish, red piranha and African magur, which were as soon as imported to Bangladesh for fish tanks.
The department’s Additional Director General Anisur Rahman Talukder said the fish ranges pointed out in the vlog are hazardous.
Then how did the fish land at Katabon?
Recently, we checked out the Katabon family pet market and discovered a couple of stores consisting of ‘Water Zoo’ — owned by one specific Shishir Mitra —- selling Alligator Gar, Oscar, Albino Arowana and Shovelnose Catfish. Some other shop attendants recommended that Water Zoo is the popular shop in the market that offers imported products.
The shop attendant Miran, presuming the TBS reporter to be a prospective purchaser, informed about the rates of the displays. They were truly costly: a snow alligator gar cost Tk3 lakh.
We requested the kinds of alligator gar that Nobel and Pavel have actually been raising at their mini zoo. Miran said the rate of the specific product would cost Tk5,000 per set, however they were not available at the minute.
“The alligator gars you are looking for will be available after the next delivery by air. We import the fish from either Singapore or Thailand,” Miran said. We asked him when the fish would show up. He responded, “You will discover updates on our Facebook page.”
Alien fish traders mainly build marketing networks through their social networks deals with and they receive huge action. There are some worried fans too who advise the page operators about the negative effects of offering the meat-eating alien fish in Bangladesh. Aquaculture professionals frequently blame the alien types for pressing the regional fish to termination. The page operators seldom captivate the concerned fans.
However, the fisheries department ought to be worried about the matter because there are Fisheries Quarantine Officers released at the ports to examine destructive fish types. But the authorities appear uninformed of such hazardous imports.
“For sure, the ‘hazardous’ fish were imported without consent. Maybe the importers bypassed due treatment. I am not knowledgeable about the imports,” said Anisur Rahman Talukder.
Bangladesh Fish Quarantine Act 2018 restricts the unlawful import of fish types and has the arrangement for an optimum of 7 years of extensive jail time or a fine of optimum Tk5 lakh or both. Advertising sales of such fish is likewise a criminal activity with comparable penalty. Fisheries department authorities, however, might not offer any information on the number of individuals were penalized for unlawful fish imports up until now.
What are the repercussions of such neglect?
It has actually been said that 15 years back, the hazardous ‘sucker fish’ were very first captured at Dhanmondi Lake, Dhaka. At that time, it was presumed that some uninformed fish tank owner may have launched the ‘strange’ fish into the lake.
Within a years, the fish ended up being such a danger to traditional fisheries and aquaculture that various federal government companies and fish conservationists released red informs. Several media outlets reported that sucker fish, which are omnivorous, are available in popular rivers. They are now prospering even in the most contaminated River Buriganga.
“A couple of days earlier, among my research study trainees reported the accessibility of sucker fish in the River Halda, which is the biggest natural breeding space of significant carp fish in the nation. This is truly worrying. The predator fish will quickly threaten the existing fish types,” said Professor AM Shahabuddin, a professors of the aquaculture department at Sher-E-Bangla Agricultural University.
In January this year, the federal government released a gazette prohibiting import, sale, circulation and farming of sucker fish. Earlier, the federal government had actually prohibited the alien fish types piranha in 2008 and African magur in 2014.
Over the previous numerous years, around 20 of 30 alien fish types for aquaculture were recognized as having actually left to open waters, threatening the survivability of lots of native fish, according to fisheries professionals. The alien fish were generally imported for aquaculture.
Tilapia, black carp, mirror carp, typical carp, lawn carp, silver carp, African magur, Thai sharpunti, Vietnamese shol and koi, and guppy are amongst the alien fish that are now discovered breeding in natural water sources in the nation.
