An Overview of the Biological Features, Distribution, and Conservation of a Critically Endangered Riverine Catfish, Bagarius bagarius (Hamilton, 1822), in the Natural Waters of Bangladesh

Abstract

Bagarius bagarius (Hamilton, 1822) is widely distributed in South and Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh. This species is economically important as a game and food fish. The abundance of this fish is declining around the world, especially in Bangladesh, due to a variety of meteorological and mostly anthropogenic factors, which is potentially generating concern among the conservationists. Therefore, this species has already been declared a critically endangered species by IUCN Bangladesh. Although there is no specific conservation initiative for B. bagarius in Bangladesh, various measures are there to conserve fisheries resources, which may have an impact on conserving B. bagarius in this country. This study reviews the biology and ecology with its distribution throughout the country as well as the world, threats, conservation measures, and finds out the gaps in research on this fish. Moreover, this review suggests a suitable conservation framework to improve the conservation strategy for this critically endangered fish that can be replicated in other countries for the same purpose.

A review of fish diversity, decline drivers, and management of the Tanguar Haor ecosystem: A globally recognized Ramsar site in Bangladesh

“…According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, the nation was ranked third position in inland open water capture fisheries production ( FAO, 2020 ). Inland fisheries, encompassing rivers and estuaries, forest water resources in the Sundarbans, beels , Kaptai Lake, floodplains, and haors , are mainly responsible for promoting the fish production of Bangladesh, with approximately 260 freshwater native fish species ( DoF, 2020 ; Mustafi et al., 2022 ; Saha et al., 2021) ).…”

“…The long-term viability of TH’s fisheries management practices is threatened by anthropogenic, environmental, and climate change/variability, as well as trans-boundary consequences. Biodiversity loss, particularly decline of species diversity, is a significant concern in the nation, and the number of endemic fish species is diminishing year after year in various inland waterbodies owing to a variety of man-made and natural causes ( Pandit et al., 2015a , 2015b , 2021 ; Sultana et al., 2019 ; Akter et al., 2020 ; Barman et al., 2021 ; Saha et al., 2021 ; Das et al., 2022 ; Kamal et al., 2022 ). Except for Alam et al.…”

Impacts of brush pile fishing on fish biodiversity: A case study of the Shari-Goyain River in Bangladesh

“…Bangladesh is an important inland fishery resourceful country, blessed with a large number of inland waterbodies like rivers, freshwater marshes, canals, brackish water impoundments, natural and manmade lakes, beels , haors , and floodplains ( DoF, 2020 ; Saha et al., 2021 ). It has the third largest aquatic biodiversity in Asia, and the presence of the world’s largest flooded wetland makes the country one of the most suitable areas for fish in the world ( Shamsuzzaman et al., 2017 ).…”

“…The riverine production of fish increased from 3,25,478 MT in 2018–19 to 3,31,793 MT in 2019–20 with a growth rate of 1.94% ( DoF, 2020 ). As a result, overharvesting of fish using illegal fishing gears and indiscriminate methods of fishing is very common in waterbodies, particularly in the inland open waters of Bangladesh ( Galib et al., 2009 ; Sufian et al., 2017 ; Arefin et al., 2018 ; Akter et al., 2020 ; Pandit et al., 2020 , 2021 , 2022 ; Saha et al., 2021 ; Mia et al., 2022 ). Consequently, 64 indigenous fish species of Bangladesh have become red listed as threatened, where 52% of those are riverine species ( IUCN Bangladesh, 2015 ).…”

Finding the suitable catfish species for cage aquaculture in a freshwater swamp

“…Bangladesh is geographically endowed with a vast area of water resources, including ponds, natural depressions (haors and beels), lakes, canals, rivers, estuaries, etc. (Morsheduzzaman et al, 2010;DoF, 2020;Sunny et al, 2021a;Pandit et al, 2021;Saha et al, 2021). According to FAO report, recently Bangladesh ranked 3 rd in inland open water capture fisheries production and 5 th in world aquaculture production (Sunny et al, 2021b).…”