Fish Biodiversity and Livelihood Status of Fishing Community of Tista River, Bangladesh

3 Abstract: This investigation was carried out from July to October, 2011toassess the fish biodiversity and livelihood status of fishing community of the Tistariver based on catch assessment survey and personal interview. In total, 42 fish species belonging to 7 common groups were identified from the river. Among them 7 species of carps, 9 species of catfishes, 4 species of snakeheads, 3 species of eels, 7 species barbs and minnows, 4 species of perch and 8 miscellaneous species were recorded. The highest value (1.38) of species richness was observed in catfish and the lowest (0.46) was in eel. Livelihood status of fishermen were studied in terms of age structure, religious status, educational status, family size, monthly income, income from fishing, housing condition, training exposure, land area, savings, family type, sanitation facilities, health facilities and drinking water facilities. It was found that age group of young was the highest (42%) while old group was the lowest (21%). Among the fishers the percentage of Muslims and Hindus were 80% and 20%, respectively. On the other hand, 73% fishermen were illiterate, 21% had up to primary level and 6% had secondary level of education. The highest and the lowest percentage of annual income of fishermen were found in moderate group and high group, respectively. Most of the fishermen's houses (83%) werekacha and very few (17%) were semi pakka. About 80% fishermen households were dependent on village doctor, 15% received health service from the Upazilahealth complex and 5% from Kobiraj. The highest percentage (57%) of family size was in medium family size group whereas the lowest was in small group. Hundred percent (100%) of the fishermen households used tube well water for drinking purpose. It can be concluded that fishermen of Tistariver were mostly illiterate, lack of training exposure, lack of awareness about health facilities, sanitation and fish biodiversity of the Tistariver has also declined day by day due to over exploitation and natural causes. Various recommendations and measures have been suggested to improve the fish biodiversity and livelihood status of fishers in the Tistariver area.