International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL.

IV * ISSUE-39

Research Paper Zoology

"Beel Fisheries of Assam and its Imapct on the Socio-Economic Life of the people of Lakhimpur District"
* Sarat Baruah
* Assistant Professor, Madhabdev College A B S T R A C T
Beels are the derelict or semi derelict wetlands, which are very much important fishery resource of Assam. Beels are the only source of fish for the rural people, neighboring to the wetland. They depend on beels for their daily consumption of fish as well as a source of livelihood. Ecological energy studies shows that beels have a high productive potentiality. There are about 1392 beels in Assam, in which maximum number being in Nagaon District (289), followed by Cahar (263); Lakhimpur (153) and Jorhat (131). However, the present regulation and system of management are not sufficient to sustainable production of these water bodies.

April , 2012

Introduction: Assam is gifted by God with many extensive water bodies, commonly known as beels (Jhingarn and Pathak 1987), that are the only source of fish for the poor people in the surrounding villages. In Assam two major river systems namely Brahamputra and the Barak and the beels are situated along the tributaries of these two river systems. In Brahamputra Valley there exists a total number of 1030 beels covering an area of 92,693 ha; out of which 300 beels (31,214 ha.) are in the central Assam; 409 beels (29,383 ha.) in the lower Assam and 315 beels (32,015 ha.) are in the upper Assam. On the other hand, there are about 167 beels with an area of 8122 ha. in Barak Valley. Presently these beels are adversely affected by various factors like pollution, reclamation, habitat degradation etc. Objective of the Study: The objective of the study is to analyse the various parameters in relation to the socio-economic aspects of this region. The specific objective of the study are:1.To study the bio-geographical status of the beels of Assam.

2.To know about the morphometey and hydrodynamics of wetlands.3.To analyse the physio-chemical properties of the beels.4.To analyse the diversity of the fish fauna of the beels of Assam.5.To analyse the socioeconomic aspects of the community surrounding by the beels. Methodology: The methodology used in this paper in descriptive and analytical. The different data used for the study were collected from field study as well as comments received from the local people nearby the beels. The secondary data also available from different news papers. Fisheries bulletins of Assam, Journals and Published books. Moreover, personal knowledge is used to make meaningful interpretation of the data. Morphometry and Hydrodynamics of the beels: The principal, morphometric characteristics that influence the productivity of beel ecosystem are shore line area, depth and slope. These characteristics are directly related to the hydrodynamics of the wetlands. There are three major sources of water input in to beel ecosystem, viz, over flow from the river channel, surface flow and rainfall. In Assam, during the period of

Input, credit Toll/monopoly rent Fish harvest Fishers Return to inputs Fishery Factor share Lease Agents Payment Govt. Investment in other sectors

Non Fishery Sector

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International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE-39

April-June, heavy rainfall takes place, due to which all law laying areas and beels are flooded with rain water. Thus, flood is the main source of water for the beels of Assam. The water loss by various means causes shrinkage and lowering of the depth in the beels. Consequently, the fluviatile nature of the system is transformed in to a lentic and stagnant water body till nest flooding the seasonal change. Physio-chemical properties of the beels: Water flow plays a vital role in the nutrient dynamics and aquatic productivity of the beels. There are three principal mechanisms, which control the water chemistry of the beels. Beels are generally considered as highly entrophicated system with high rate of primary productivity. Soil is one of the major parameter that maintaining the productivity of any water body. The soil and water quality of the beels of Assam are mentioned below: See Fig 1 Analysis: Beels is a highly productive natural ecosystem which can convert the solar energy into organic Carbon in the presence of rich nutrients available from Table-1 Parameters Range 1.Soil Quality PH 5.10-5.80 Organic Carbon(%) 2.80-5.90 2. Water Quality Temperatur (0C) 18.50-31.50 Transparency () 48.00-121.00 Dissolved Oxygen (PPm) 4.27-11.20 PH 6.40-7.60 Free Carbon-di-Oxide (ppm) 2.00-12.00 Total hardness (Rpm) 13.90-35.66 Source: Social, economic and policy respects of Fisheries. natural sources. Historically, there have been three dominant group of people involved in organized fishing is the beels: 1.Those who catch fish for their own daily consumption. 2.Those who belonging to the fisher community and depend in fishing for their livelihood. 3.Rural Entrepreneurs (Leasholders) The leases further auction the leases to the fishers and provide capital at high rate of interest to them (Ahmed et. al. 1992) Within my present study, conducted at Neriapather Koibotra Gaon, a typical fisher men village at Narayanpur revenue circle of Lakhimpur district of Assam. The village comprises

147 fishermen families. It was observed that none of the fishers abide by the Indian Fisheries Act 1897.In Assam, the beels are under the control of the Revenue Department. In 1977 a substantial number of beels have been handed over to the Assam Fisheries Devepment corporation (AFDC), for maintenance. Under the present system of manage ment (Fig.-1), both the Revenue Department and AFDC lease out the beels for a period of 5-7 years at a time.The prime objectives is to earn revenue for the state's exchequer. The protection of the interest of the Koiborta (traditional fishers flok) community is not given much attention under the existing policy. It was observed during our field study that, the system allows rich middle persons to obtain the leases. However, the lessee hires fishers to do the fishing. In most of the cases fishers of adjacent villages are employed at very low wages. The fishers are not allowed to marketing their fishes (share) in the market. Therefore, they were compelled to shell it back to the lessee at a low rate fixed by them.At the lease period the leaseholders, catch maximum stock of the fishes to maximizes their income. The provisions of the Indian Fisheries Act 1897, enacted for the protection and conservation of aquatic biota, are meaningless under this management system. In most cases poor fishers are also under pressure to increase their income and also under pressure to increase their income and easily fall prey to the lessee's interests. A number of fisher co-operatives exist but have no meaningful functions. The members are often ignorant about their rights and roles. It is necessary to develop a community based co-management model for the beels ofAssam, like those applied Brazil (Christensen et. al. 1995). The govt. must take the initative and get scientists and development personal to develop and establish community-based fisheries co-management for beel fisheries in Assam. Conclusion: Beels, of Assam are rich in fish diversity and it harbours almost all freshwater species available in the North Estern region. Due to improper fishing, lack of proper planning and proper conservation measures fish species are depleting very rapidly in the state. If it continues for another few years, most of the indigenous fishes will extinct. So, immediate attention from govt. agencies, NGOs, researchers, planners and policy makers, local people etc. is required in this regard.
Jhingarn, V.G. (1991) Fish and Fisheries of North-East India. Vol. on Arunachal Pradesh Published by A.K. Chaudhary, Barrackpora, West Bengal, India. 3. Pithaiah et. al.: Socio-Economic conditions of Fisherman. A Case Study, Kurkshetra, May, 1907. 4. Dey, S.C. 1981, Studies on the hydro-biological conditions of some commercially important lakes (beel) of Kamrup district of Assam and their bearing on fish production.
MULYANKAN

R E F E R E N C E
1. Biswas, K.P. 1995 Ecological and Fisheries Dev. In wetlands. CICFRI, 2000, Ecology and Fisheries of beel of Assam. Bulletin No. 97, central Island capture Fisheries Research Institute, Barreckpore, 743101 West Bengal. 2. Dyal, S. Fisheries Co-Operatives and their role in marketing of Fish in India with Special reference to Gujarat.
SHODH, SAMIKSHA

AUR

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