Fish sanctuary as a sustainable management tool for recovering fish biodiversity, production and livelihood: A case study on Halti Beel tank sanctuary, Bangladesh

Fish sanctuary is a common tool for retrieving fisheries diversity in a threatened aquatic ecosystem. The present study highlighted a case study on sustainable management of Halti Beel tank sanctuary, Bangladesh (a part of Chalan Beel) established for the betterment of fisheries and fishermen community. The study was conducted for a period of 6 months from July to December 2017. Both primary and secondary data was used for a comparison before and after effects of Halti Beel tank sanctuary considering three parameters viz., fisheries diversity, production trends and socio-economic condition of fishermen community. During the study period, diversity in both native and exotic fish species (71) were increased where 62 species were native and 9 were exotic under 26 families of 11 orders. This number (71) was observed 97.22% higher than the number of species before declaring Halti Beel tank as fish sanctuary. Recovery rate was observed highest for the order Siluriformes (11) and the lowest for Channiformes (1). Cypriniformes was the most diversified order with 24 species (18 native and 6 exotic species). The observed data showed a dramatic increase in fish production from 8.77 to 37.50 metric ton within four fiscal years whereas the gradual production trend was recorded 10.12, 29.47, 35.10 and 37.50 metric ton, respectively in the year 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2014-2015 and 2016-2017. The study was also showed a satisfactory improvement in financial and housing assets as socio-economic status of fishermen community involved in the management of Halti Beel tank sanctuary.