THE GREAT MAHSEER

[hock ann]

Hello everyone,
In a country where human beings are overlooked, wild life does'nt really stand much of a chance.Unfortunately for fish,being under water means being out of sight & hence,out of mind.While something as large as a Tusker,Rhino or Tiger cannot go unnoticed in current day "Parks & Preservation "
scenarios many giant size Mahseer rarities by themselves,are casually Dynamited,Netted,Speared, Poisoned and even Electrocuted. I admit fishing by angling is a good game,even I am an angler & frequently visit the Great tributes of Brahmaputra,the Siang,Deopani,Dehing,etc there are many huge Mahseers fishes,The rivers are shrinking the headwater areas are denuded of tree cover leading to excess erosion leading to silting of breeding grounds for Mahseer. leading to total loss of that years eggs. Dams across rivers stop Mahseer from ascending to the breeding grounds.Since the Mahseer is not a very fecund breeder as compared to other species it lays very less eggs.
The Mahseer is the fiercest fighting freshwater game fish that exists,in our country the Mahseer often attracts a large numbers of people from other countries (foreigners) who over the decades are frequent visitors to our country for the sporting purpose in form of angling, The largest Mahseer records upto 120 lbs, but now every anglers know that this species are dissapering very soon we might not see any of the Great Mahseer.
My request to all the anglers who goes through this post is that we should try to wake up our sleeping Govt. & put pressure by any legal means so that the illegal methods are checked & action taken against the culprits. In my area few Village heads have already taken up precautions & fines amounting to Rs.10,000/- are imposed on the persons found guilty with illegal methods of fishing in the Village areas, but again what about the forest areas, I have approched many area MLA,DFO's & Rangers in the state of Arunachal Pradesh where even today huge Mahseer exists. What about the rivers of the South specially the Cauvery river where also huge Mahseer exists today.
(Only Ants & Human beings wage Wars with their own Species)
HK,

[nagarifle]

hi HA
i agree with what u say about the fishing methods used such as Dynamited,Netted,Speared, Poisoned and even Electrocuted.

we in Nagaland use this kind of fishing methods, i for one like to use line and rod maybe a net. but not that kills all fishes in the river.

in my neck of the woods fishing by the above methods are banned but it still goes on. why?

the only answer is that the people here are not aware and not thought about the danger to the river life. in some instance they do not care.

However it is difficult to implant total ban or fine here as every man is a king. the country/state law has little meaning but the law of the village council has more power, but no one to check on illegal method of fishing. i only speck in support of what HA has said and i speck on only Nagaland.

[Sakobav]

We have quite a few anglers on this board and eljefe is also moderator on
http://www.indianangler.com/, founder of that board also posts here. Mack The Knife is member of WASI, he along with few others fish in Cauvery.

Best

[GasramGandu]

Most mahseer in the South are found in the river Cauvery in areas which pass through dense forest. In areas like Bheemeshwari and Galiborai the state owned group Jungle Lodges and resorts along with WASI have guards patrolling these stretches. Though dynamiting has been reduced to a certain extent it still happens in sparsely protected areas.

Sadly the mahseer and other fish are not included under the schedules of the wildlife act so most cases are booked under the Arms act for possession of dynamite or under the the Indian Fisheries Act which can be seen at http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/Laws/T ... t-1897.htm

For more info on mahseer conservation please have a look at this section dedicated to conservation.

http://www.indianangler.com/viewforum.p ... b0840aa1d9

GG

[diskaon]

The law is clear that you cant use dynamite, etc.... but the problem is how to implement. Its not the top priority of the poilce and the forest dept is understaffed.

For the past 20yrs the Tata Electric company has a fisheries department at Lonavala (hill station near Mumbai) where they have been breeding mahasheer in the walwan dam. They have won awards in relocating millions of hatchlings all over the country.

I think its difficult to stop poachers. but no one can stop us from taking care of hatchlings and increasing the population.

over a period of time the mahashee will be so many that the govt will actuall allow use of dynamite, CuS, etc to stop the population.

may be the breeding of the mahasheer can be done in captivity. Hatchlings tend to fend for themselves quite well.

dishkaon.

[Yaj]

When you protect an apex predator you also are taking care of its environment an all the other organisms in it, in short the ecosystem.
Just breeding hatchlings and putting them back in dynamited,poisoned and dead rivers would be as bad as putting farm bred tigers back in degraded forests.
Breeding is just a stop gap solution, there is no way you can replicate the genetic diversity and vigour of wild bred animals.
Regards,
Yaj.

[hock ann]

Hi, Diskaon,
PLZ do post us when the use of Dynamite will be allowed to stop/check on the population growth of the GREAT MAHSEER by the Govt. breaking their own laws/rule such as The Indian Fisheries-Act-1897. just now-a-days not getting any bites may be the Dynamites can help..!.
HK,

[diskaon]

Hi, Diskaon,
PLZ do post us when the use of Dynamite will be allowed to stop/check on the population growth of the GREAT MAHSEER by the Govt. breaking their own laws/rule such as The Indian Fisheries-Act-1897. just now-a-days not getting any bites may be the Dynamites can help..!.
HK,

LOL
sure will do so