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In Pictures: Otter fishing in Bangladesh

Ancient Hindu community that uses otters to catch fish threatened by a sharp decline in stocks caused by pollution.

Bipul Kumar Bishwas leads his two otters through the village of Hariar Gop to the river to fish. His otters are named Rada and Krishna, characters from Hindu mythology. The village is entirely Hindu in this Muslim-majority country. 

By Joseph Allchin

Published On 3 Sep 2014

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Hariar Gop, Bangladesh – One ancient community in Bangladesh that uses otters to fish and lives in tandem with the Buriganga river is slowly disappearing because of industrial pollution and a decline of fauna in the water.

Rivers define Bangladesh as it lies at the end of one of the most densely populated river system on Earth. The waterways feed the country’s 150 million people, but the changing fortunes of these fishing communities represent the shifting sands of the river system, and the people who live along it.

Fishing with otters is a part of their livelihood, as the trained mammals lure fish into their nets. The practice has been in existence for about 1,500 years, but Bangladesh is perhaps its last bastion.

RELATED: Video: Bangladesh otter fishing faces extinction

However, for otter fisherman Bipul Kumar Bishwas, who lives near the western city of Jessore – about 140km southwest of the capital Dhaka – the situation has grown desperate.

“We’ve been doing this for generations,” he told Al Jazeera. “The reason I learned this is because my dad fished with otters, my uncles did, everyone did. But now there aren’t really any fish left anymore, so the younger people aren’t learning this. They’re going to school and looking for other kinds of jobs.”

The otters are semi-domesticated and this unique livelihood has also helped preserve the species of smooth-coated otter, known by its scientific name Lutrogale perspicillata.

“Compared to when I was growing up, 90 percent of otter fishermen are gone. There’re maybe 50 to 60 boats left in this area that still fish with the otters,” Bipul said.

Craig A Meisner, director of World Fish Bangladesh, told Al Jazeera that pollution from industry such as tanneries is also a major problem, adding to the depletion of fish stocks. It has turned the Buriganga river into one of the world’s worst environmental disasters in the world.

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Pollution from industry such as tanneries is a major problem that has added to the depletion of fish stocks in the Buriganga river.
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Onal Sarkar rows his boat, which is made of wood and thatch and has no engine. Fish-stock depletion means that fishermen must go to the Sunderban mangrove forest to fish, a fair distance away.
Sunderbans Forest Reserve is the largest contiguous mangrove forest on Earth but is increasingly under threat. Bangladesh is densely populated with about 1,000 people per square km. Growing numbers of people are encroaching the forest to make a living, and land-grabbing and habitat loss are also contributing factors.
Workers look on from a huge grain silo under construction close to the mangrove forest. Activists allege that politically connected individuals are being awarded valuable land in or near the forest.
The grain silo is nearly complete and a new coal-fired power plant nearby will soon be built. Opponents have voiced concern that waste run-off and emissions from the plant will irreparably damage the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site.
Because of population pressure, "many poor people who didn(***)t depend on fish now do", said Benoy Kumar Barman, a senior scientist at the NGO World Fish in the capital Dhaka. He said artificial methods of farming and stocking rivers are now necessary.
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There is a, "huge impact" on life in Bangladesh(***)s rivers from irrigation programmes such as the Teesta barrage, which neighbouring India built up river, Barman said. "So when a barrier is put there the breeding ground is lost," he added. 
Habitat loss and increased population density mean the domesticated otters(***) survival in Bangladesh is under threat.
"When we fish with otters we can catch more fish. They corner the fish and chase them into our nets. That(***)s why we prefer to fish with otters," Bipul said.
Otters cost about 3,000 taka ($40) to feed and care for each month, Bipul said. "Before I used to earn about 25,000 taka ($325) a month, now it(***)s more like 10,000 taka ($130), sometimes it(***)s even less." 
"If we(***)re struggling right now to provide for our families with this trade, then why would we want our kids to learn this trade and tie their futures down to this?" Bipul said.
The Hindu minority itself is declining in numbers. Communal violence since Bangladesh(***)s independence from Pakistan in 1971 has forced many to flee. The village of Noyapara, 10km from Hariar Gop, was hit by violence against the Hindu minority in January.