DHAKA, Dec 10, 2024 - (BSS) - Fisheries and Livestock Advisor Farida Akhtar today said she was opposed to the idea of leasing out water bodies or ‘haors’ disrupting ordinary people’s livelihood and biodiversity.

   “I think the system of leasing out haors should be scrapped immediately,” she told a national dialogue on haors at the CIRDAP auditorium here.

   Akhtar called weird the existing system of leasing out haors for commercial purpose endangering the biodiversity and peoples livelihood.

   She said these water bodies were hubs of 143 local fish species, 12 exotic ones, several types of fresh water shrimps, small and large fish, snails and oysters.

   Besides, the adviser said, the haor ecosystem contains, 22% of the country's total cattle, 24% of ducks, 129 local and 128 species of foreign birds, 29 species of mammals, nine species of amphibians, 40 species of reptiles and several species of rice.

   “(So) there should be no question of leasing out haors,” she told the National Haor Dialogue 2024 jointly staged by Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), Bangladesh Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) and Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association (BELA).

   Akhtar said the widely used term “original or real fishermen” indicated that many people entered into the arena through unjust means, an apparent reference to lease holders.

     She said the real fishermen till date have not been valued what they deserve and there is always a tug of war over haors as no ministry wants to take responsibility.

   “We all have the responsibility to protect our haors . . .  The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock will be responsible for protecting haor areas,” the adviser categorically mentioned.

   Akhtar said the use of pesticides and herbicides in Ufsi and hybrid paddy cultivation in haors during the dry season was posing threat to the fisheries and livestock sectors.

   “I have told the agricultural advisor to stop use of pesticides paddy cultivation in haor areas endangering fishes . . .  mother fishes must be protected,” she said.

   The adviser said haor fish was almost synonymous to the local fish varieties.

   ALRD Executive Director and rights activist Shamsul Huda presided over the programme.

   Farmers, fishermen, indigenous people, local representatives of haor areas from Sunamganj, Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Kishoreganj, Netrokona and Brahmanbaria joined the dialogue.

   Rangpur Division Environment Department director M Rafiqul Islam, Share the Planet Association president Tetsu Chuchui, acting chief executive of BELA Taslima Islam, executive president of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA) Dr Lelin Chowdhury, Professor Afzalur Rahman and Water Development Board Deputy Chief M Belal Uddin Biswas, among others, were present.