“In line with the action plan, we have started awareness campaigns among the coastal fishermen so they can immediately release the dolphins, if possible,” Uddin said. The plan authorizes the fisheries department to work with fishermen, while the main task of saving and conserving the dolphins goes to the forest department. In 2019, Dhaka adopted a Dolphin Conservation Action Plan to save the country’s population of Irrawaddy, a protected species, along with the Ganges River dolphin. So more dolphins are getting trapped in the fishing nets,” said Uddin, chief scientific officer for the marine fisheries survey management. “The number of fishermen in this area has increased over the years. Sharif Uddin, a fisheries department official, said Kuakata and other adjacent coastal areas are rich in resources. When one is entangled in a net, others come around the trapped dolphin.” “Dolphins are a very emotional type of animal. “Every dolphin’s death makes fishermen very sorry,” he said.
Majhi, which means “boatman” in Bengali, said no fisherman intentionally kills a dolphin. Roman Imtiaz Tushar, a Kuakata wildlife activist, said 24 Irrawaddy dolphins were found dead in 2021, 18 in 2020 and 12 in 2019. The name comes from the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar where the first specimens were described, according to, a website on dolphin conservation and management. The Irrawaddy dolphin, which is distinct for its roundish head and lack of beak, is found in freshwater along with brackish shallow coastal waters in South and Southeast Asia, from Bangladesh to Mekong region and the Philippines. “This is really a matter of concern for us that the Irrawaddy dolphins are dying,” Abdullah Al Mamun, the division forest officer in Patuakhali district, told BenarNews.įorest officials were examining the causes of the latest dolphin deaths, he said. Similar concerns have been raised as the Irrawaddy population has plummeted on the Mekong River near Cambodia’s border with Laos. The trend worries government authorities, environmentalists and fishermen. Credit: Dolphin Conservation Committee of Kuakata, Bangladesh. The carcass of an Irrawaddy dolphin lies on the Kuakata beach in Bangladesh’s Patuakhali district, May 14, 2022. The report said the dolphin was found floating at the mouth of Andharmanik River in Patuakhali district that morning. Meanwhile on May 22, a local Bangladesh media report said that a pregnant female Irrawaddy dolphin had died after being hit by a trolling net. All were found in the same Kuakata beach area in Patuakhali, about 294 km (183 miles) south of Dhaka. The deaths of two Irrawaddy dolphins earlier this month near Kuakata beach where Majhi fishes highlight the threat faced by the aquatic mammals in Bangladesh, which hosts the world’s largest population of the species, authorities and fishermen said.īangladesh Forest Department officials recovered the remains of the dolphins on May 3 and 14, bringing the tally this year to at least eight. The number of fishermen has increased 10 times compared to 30 years ago.” “The main cause of death is due to fishing nets. “But now we see a lot less dolphins,” the 58-year-old fisherman from Patuakhali district told BenarNews. Preliminary research on cetaceans in Cambodia has been conducted during 2001, however, further preliminary research is essential in order to formulate a larger scale project to be initiated in 2003.Growing up, Nuru Majhi and his friends used to see dolphins jumping in Bangladesh’s southern coastal waters. Initiate community-based education and management programs, andĬonduct training programs and workshops to increase capacity of local Cambodians to undertake marine mammal research. Investigate public perceptions towards Irrawaddy dolphins and conservation in Cambodia, Investigate abundance, distribution and habitat preferences,Īssess threats to both the riverine and coastal populations, The aim of this research is to initiate a detailed assessment on the current status of the Irrawaddy dolphin which inhabits the Mekong River and coastal waters of Cambodia. Previous to 2001, no research had been undertaken on coastal cetaceans in Cambodia and minimal research had been conducted on the riverine Irrawaddy dolphin population.
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