Fish deaths spur inquiry in Wular, Jhelum; samples taken

Bandipora, Nov 9: Following reports of mass deaths in Wular Lake and the Jhelum River in north Kashmir's Bandipora district, authorities have moved forward to investigate the basic cause of the deaths on a mass scale.

Notably, the fishermen association told Greater Kashmir on Saturday that the fish in the Jhelum and Wular Lake were dying on a mass scale.

The president of the fisherman association, Ghulam Hassan, and executive member, Naseer Dar, told Greater Kashmir that unabated illegal “electro-shock” fishing was being carried out in the lake by some “blue-eyed” persons without any checks by the Fisheries Department.

They said that the fish were dying and there was a restriction on their free movement due to willow barriers being erected in the lake waters, especially in Lankreshipora and Laharwalpora areas of the lake, causing immense harm to the seed and immature fish.

Besides this, they said unabated use of gill nets was also drastically impacting the fish as well as the livelihood of the registered fishermen depending on the lake’s produce.

On raising the issue with the department, they accepted that illegal practices were on the rise and that they were doing everything in their capacity to curb these practices.

The department said that they were in the process of acquiring a dredger from LCMA Srinagar to remove the willow barriers in the lake.

Assistant Director Fisheries, Muneer Ahmad, told Greater Kashmir that pollution was also a cause of fish dying in the lake.

“As soon as we detected there was higher mortality of snow trout in the Jhelum, we informed SKUAST to pick up the samples and investigate the cause,” he said.

Ahmad said SKUAST has the exact pathology and laboratory to investigate the cause.

“However, we have not received the report from the department,” he said. “As soon as we get it, further action will be taken.”

About why the practice was not started in Wular Lake, Ahmad cited the large volume of the lake as a hindrance to sampling the cause of fish deaths.