Guwahati News Desk: Assam is home to several unique and ornamental species of flora and fauna and making headlines again is one of these species, Channa barca. The Channa barca or the Barca snakehead fish is one of the most sought-after ornamental fish species in state. After frequent attempts at poaching, the steps are finally undertaken formally to protect the species.
The main habitat for the fish currently is Orang National Park.
“It is found in the Brahmaputra basin which, because of being a flood prone area, suits its typical habitat. It is an ornamental species of fish and found in parts of Assam where there is a confluence of a wetland and the Brahmaputra river or one of its tributaries. It is also reported to be found in some parts of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh,” said Sushil Kumar Sarmah, Associate Professor, Zoology Department, Guwahati City College, Assam. “It is a highly threatened species and at any moment, it might completely disappear”, he added.
The recent attempted-poaching cases dates from October 2019 when The staff of Orang National Park (ONP) had arrested Shaha Jalal of Nadir Kash, adjacent to ONP under Shyampur Police Station in Darrang district, and recovered two endangered species of ornamental fish Channa Barca from his possession. He had collected both the ornamental fish from ONP and was proceeding to sell it to a person at Pauripota. We can only apprehend how many of such instances go un-reported.
However, the DFO of Mangaldoi had some good news for environmentalists from around the world working on conserving such endangered species.
“I have filed a request to include the particular fish under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 as a scheduled animal. The State Wildlife Board had recommended earlier to include it as a scheduled animal. We have accordingly proposed this to the government but this cannot be done by the state government, the central government has to do it. It is under due process,” the DFO Pradipta Baruah said.
Prof. Sushil Kumar Sarmah came up with another plan for the future that could help both the commercial and ecological purposes associated with the situation. Sarmah argued that if the government wants to exploit the commercial value of the ornamental fish endemic to the region then it should be done in a proper way through captive breeding and monoculture.
“We had conducted a feasibility study of ornamental fish trade where we had clearly mentioned that these ornamental fish species endemic to the region should never be exported without captive breeding even if there is a huge demand internationally,” said Sarmah.
“If threatened species are exported without captive breeding or mass propagation then they will soon cease to exist in the region. A proper and strict checking system should be put in place in exit points like the airport and the railway stations so that these highly threatened fish species cannot be smuggled out,” he added.
“Monoculture should also be done if captive breeding is done at all, so that the female of the species is not exported out and so that the ornamental and endemic status of the species is not compromised,” Sarmah stressed.
