Exploration of fishing gear and fisheries diversity of Agunmukha River at Galachipa Upazila in Patuakhali District of Bangladesh

Agunmukha River is an important water body having plentiful aquatic resources. The fisheries communities in the river are familiar with a diverse range of fishing gear and crafts to catch fish. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to explore fishing gear and fishing crafts, catch composition of the respective gearand identification of fish biodiversity of Agunmukha River. A step wise validated questionnaire was used for data recording from February 2015 to August 2015. In total, 19 types of fishing gear were identified under 9 major categories. On the other hand, in view of fisheries biodiversity, 47 fish species were listed covering 28 families of which Cyprinidae was found as the most dominant family which contains 9 species under 7 genera followed by Bagridae having 5 species belonging to 3 genera and Engraulidae also containing 3 species under 3 different genera. The study described 7 vulnerable, 5 endangered and 2 critically endangered species out of 42 finfish species. Diversity indexes were calculated for the present finding of which Margalef’s index (d) was 5.13 for species available in the study area. Due to unawareness and indiscriminate fish caught with a small mesh size net, diversity of fish species in the river is under threat. Thus, public awareness and adequate knowledge on use of appropriate fishing gear with appropriate mesh size could contribute to sustainable fisheries diversity in the river and the improvement in livelihood of the fishermen in the adjacent area