Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 8 (4), October 2009, pp 535-538

Plants used as fish toxins in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand Himalaya

KS Negi* & KS Kanwal Environment Department, Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand E-mail: [email protected]

Received 7 April 2008; revised 12 August 2008

Garhwal Himalaya is known for its rich bio-resources and ethnocultural diversity. Ethnobiological survey was conducted in different hilly districts of Uttarakhand which reveals their Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) in fish capture. is one of the important sources of animal protein for the people of hilly region. In the study, a total of 13 , which are significantly used as fish toxicant by local people in the aquatic resources of the Garhwal region have been listed. ’s characteristic feature, vernacular name, family, distribution, parts used and other ethnobotanical uses have been also described.

Keywords: Fish diversity, Garhwal, Aquatic resources, Fish toxin, Traditional fish folk, Uttarakhand

IPC Int. Cl.8: A61K36/00 A01K79/00

Garhwal region is one of the distinct division of used as fish toxicants by the people in Garhwal region Uttarakhand Himalaya. Geographically, Garhwal has of Uttarakhand Himalaya. almost central position in the long Himalayan sweep, which lies between the latitude 290 26' to 310 28' N Methodology and longitude 770 49' to 800 06' E. It has an area of Extensive and frequent field surveys were about 30,090 sq km, spreading 220 km in East-west conducted in different villages of Garhwal region of and 235 km in North-south, the whole region Uttarakhand state. Information on plants used as fish constitutes about 7.01% of the entire Indian poison and other beneficial uses were collected by Himalaya. Most of the holy rivers of owe their field observation and discussion with people of the origin to the snow peaks of Chamoli and Uttarkashi hilly areas and local tribal communities of Terai districts of Garhwal region. Besides the snow-fed Bhabar zone. The general information related to rivers, there are many spring origin streams, rivers vernacular names of plants in different region and and hundreds of rivulets are present in the region. plant parts used have been provided by elder and These aquatic resources harbour diverse ichthyofauna knowledgeable people. Plants were identified belonging to 64 fish in different hilly taxonomically by referring at HNB Garhwal and Tarai-Bhabar zone of Garhwal Himalaya1. Fish University, Srinagar-Garhwal and ICFRE Dehradun. constitutes an important, cheap and rich source of Extensive literature search was also conducted to verify the name of plants and their use in fish high quality animal protein for the people living in the 6,7 hills of Garhwal division. Traps and nets are an poisoning . important tools used for capture fishes from rivers and Result & discussion streams but use of various plants as fish poisons is Local people used various conventional methods to also very old practice in the history of human kind2-5. catch fishes for their domestic consumption and Plant species with ichthyotoxic properties that are protein diet requirement. Various types of plant frequently used in the whole region have subsequently products such as leaves of khinna (Sapium insigne), been less studied. Hence, the communication gives rambans (Agave americana), stem bark of jamun the detailed information of various plants, which are (Syzygium cumini), latex of surai (Euphorbia ______royleana), leaves and bark of akhrot (Juglans regia ), *Corresponding author bark of agali (Acacia pennata), fruits of chilla 536 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL.8, No. 4, OCTOBER 2009

Table1⎯ Distributional list of plants used as fish toxicants in Garhwal region Plant name / Local name Family Ethnobotanical uses Acacia pennata Mimosaceae Bark used as antidote to snake bite, used as detergent. Wood used as (L.) Willd fuel; flowers as source of bee-forage. Agali, Rigad, Aila, Shembi indica Hippocastanaceae Cream coloured wood made into pots and vessels; fruits given to (Colebr. ex Cambess) cattle and goats; seed flour mixed with wheat flour during famine; Hook. seed paste and oil applied in rheumatic pain; flowers useful in Pangar, Bankhor apiculture as bee-forage. Agave Americana L. Agavaceae Plant used as biological-fence; leaf fiber used for several wicker Ram-bans, Bans-Keora, Kantala works; leaf paste as poultice; plant use to check land slide and soil erosion. Casearia elliptica Flacourtiaceae Wood as a low - grade fuel; leaf paste used to check bleeding of Willd wounds. Chilla, Chillak, Chihlak Catunaregam spinosa Rubiaceae Fruits used to wash woolen clothes. Bark and fruits used in (Thumb.) dyspepsia, asthma, cough and as anthelmintic. Tirvengadum, Maindul, Mainfal, Madan- fal Euphorbia royleana Euphorbiaceae Planted for hedges, to check soil erosion in the exposed slopes. Boissier. considered as an antiseptic and germicidal. Sulla, Surai, Schund Juglans regia L. Juglandaceae Fruits edible and also provide oil; wood is excellent for furniture, Akhrot, Akhror, Akshor carved work, gun - stocks, and veneers; bark used as a dye and as medicine; rind of fruits used for dying and tanning. Leaves mixed with stored - grains as fungicide and insecticide. ovalifolia.(Wallich) Wood used as fuel; young leaves poisonous to cattle; seed paste Drude applied on wounds and boils. Anyar, Aiyaar Sapotaceae Wood for various constructions; flowers and fruits edible, afresh or (Koenig) made into several preparations; useful in apiculture as bee-forage; Mac Bride seeds yield an oil, used for candle and soap manufacturing; flowers Mahwa, Madhuca often used in local beverages. Sapindus mukorossi Seed endosperm edible; fruits used as substitute of soap for washing Gaertner cloths and hair; timber variously used; leaves as fodder. Fruit soaked Reetha, Arishthak, Phenila in warm water and given to reduce intoxication of opium; flowers useful source of bee-forage. Sapium insigne Euphorbiaceae Wood used for making floats, cases, drums, toys, matchboxes; latex (Royle) Benth ex Trimen regarded as poisonous, causes blisters. Kinna, Khindra, Khinni, Khirni Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels Myrtaceae Wood used for construction and various other purposes; bark for Jamun, Phalend, Kala Jamun, Jambu dyeing and tanning. Ripe fruits edible. Fruits kernel and bark supposed to be good against diabetes. armatum DC Leaves and fruits chewed for mouth wash and tooth care. Flowers so Timroo, Tejbal, Timbur, Andhaka, Tumbak of bee-forage in apiary. (Casearia elliptica) and maindul (Catunaregam the power of poison without being washed away or spinosa), pounded seeds and stem bark of diluted by a strong current. The active ingredients are and oil cake of mahwa released by mashing the appropriate plant parts. (Madhuca longifolia), etc. are used to catch various A variety of chemicals found in these plants will stun size of fishes from the aquatic resources of Garhwal fish when it passes through the gills or in some cases region (Table 1). These plant products are first well ingested. The fishes come to the surface and exhibit crushed and grinded nearby the aquatic system. The abnormal behaviors due to may be nervous pest is used as a fish poison in stagnant or semi- breakdown and lack of dissolved oxygen. The fainted stagnant pools, slow flowing streams and rivers for fishes are collected by the or local people fish catch; it is mostly applied during the morning or using simple cloth, and put into the basket. evening hours. Sometimes, streams would be partly The poison has a narcotic and debilitating action blocked to slow down the water flow for concentrate on the fish, without killing them. The sporin NEGI & KANWAL: PLANTS AS FISH TOXINS IN GARHWAL REGION 537

produces foam when entering in the water and it resources as well as for removal of uneconomical paralyzes the fish. At the beginning all fishes are fishes from the pond12. Similarly, various paralyzed, but those that are in deep pools and those toxic plants (, Sapindus mukorossi, that have not been picked up by fishermen were , and Zanthoxylum alatum) and their revived. Plant extract also alters the physico- parts were used for fish poisoning in Alaknanda river chemical properties of the water bodies, which and its tributaries in Garhwal Himalaya13. ultimately cause decline of small fishes in the stream and rivers. The toxicant released from the paste or Conclusion slurry of these plants not only affects the fishes but The plant toxins have an impact on the target also damage the stream biota like periphyton and resource and may affect also non-target species of macrobenthos. Incalculable loss of juveniles and streams and rivers. Many of them also have an impact small fishes occurs, as a result of poisoning of on the wider aquatic environment. Incalculable loss of streams. Poison flow down stream over a long juvenile and small fishes occurs, as a result of distance killing all fry and fingerlings of fish. A poisoning of streams. Poison flow downstream over a variety of plants having fish poisoning properties has long distance killing all fry and fingerlings of fishes. been known for centuries, especially in South Therefore, use of plant extract and other poisoning America and Asia. Many have been employed should be strictly banned in the strams, rivers and directly to collect wild fish from ponds and streams other aquatic resources of Uttarakhand Himalaya. for the table. In Guyana, fishermen pound the root of Provision against public nuisance in the Indian Penal Lonchocarpus on fallen logs across a stream and Court, Criminal Court and Local Acts by which legal allow the juice to drip down into the water for fish powers are conferred upon State Officials. poisoning8. Similarly, various plants used as a ichthyotoxins in California, America and indeed on References the continents in the temperate areas of the world9. 1 Singh HR, Badola SP & Dobriyal AK, Geographical distribution list of ichthyofauna of the Garhwal Himalaya Different ichthyotoxic plants were used for fish with some new records, J Bombay Nat Hist Soc, 84 (1984) poisoning in different villages and districts of 126-132. Garhwal division. The traditional fish folk, Maunn 2 Badola SP & Singh HR, Fishing methods in Garhwal hills, (Matsya) Mela were celebrated in different rivers, Proc Nat Acad Sci India, 47 (B) III (1977) 177-181. 3 Samant SS & Pangety YPS, Diversity of ichthyotoxic plant of streams and rivulets of Nayar ghati (Pauri), Jaunpur Kumaon Himalaya, Indian J Forestry, 18 (1) (1995) 80-86. (Tehri), Rawain (Uttarkashi) and Jaunpur-Bhabar 4 Badola SP & Badola Smita, Observations on destructive (Dehradun) during pre-monsoon period. Powder of fishing methods and recommendations to protect fish fauna stem bark, leaves and pounded seed of timroo in Garhwal Himalaya, Sustainable Eco System Environ, (Zanthoxylum armatum) used as fish poison during (1999) 165-168. 5 Srivastva SK, Sarkar UK &Patiyal RS, Fishing methods in the traditional fish folk in Aglaad river of Jaunpur- streams of the Kumaon Himalaya region of India, Asian 10 Tehri . Different parts of various plants used as fish Sci, 15 (2002) 347-356. poisoning in streams and stagnant or semi stagnant 6 Kanjilal U, Forest Flora of the Chakrata, Dehradun, waters of Garhwal Himalaya. Leaves of Agave Saharanpur Forest Divisions, United Provinces, (Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun), 1994. americana, Juglans regia and Sapium insigne crushed 7 Gaur RD, Flora of the District Garhwal North and the pest was directly employed in the stagnant West Himalaya with ethnobotanical notes, (Transmedia 4 water of stream and rivers . While, leaf extract of Publication, Srinagar-Garhwal), 1999. locally available cactus rambans and crushed seed of 8 Van Andel Tinde, The diverse uses of fish-poison plants in Madhuca sp is very popular for fish toxicants in the Northwest Guyana, Econ Bot, 54 (4) (2000) 500-512. pools and riffles of Champawat district of Kumaon 9 Kritzon C, Fishing with poisons (2003) www. 11 primitiveways.com/ fish_poison.html Region . Similarly, Northern Guyana natives used 10 Bangwal KK, Bahuguna BK, Agrwal NK & Gusain SS, leaves and stem of Euphorbia cotinifolia L. and Garhwal Himalaya me Maunn (Matsya) mele ka samajik- Phyllanthus brasiliensis (Aubl.) containing triterpene sanskritic swarup: Matsya sarnrkshan va sanvardhan ki for poison of small fish in a stream8. Smartweed aavshyakta evam upaay, (Proc Uttaranchal me Matsyakii ki Bhavi Sambhavnaayen, 28-29 Oct 2005, HNB Garhwal (Polygonum hydropiper, Linn.) used as fish toxicant University, Srinagar Garhwal), 2005, 130-134. by the tribal people of Karbi- Anglong district of 11 Joshi KD, Wanton destruction of fishery resources in upland for catching fish from natural aquatic waters: A case study, In: Fish diversity in Protected 538 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL.8, No. 4, OCTOBER 2009

Habitats, (Nature Conservators Publication), 8 (2004) 249- 13 Bahuguna SN, Kumar Ashok & Bisht Bhawna, Alaknanda ki 254. tin pramukh nadiyon me matsya sanrakshan evam 12 Kalita Bhagaban, Dutta Amalesh & Choudhury M, Herbal fish prabandhan, (Proc Uttaranchal me Matsyakii ki Bhavi toxicant used by fishers of Karbi-Anglong district, Assam, Sambhavnaayen, 28-29 Oct 2005, HNB Garhwal University, Indian J Traditional Knowledge, 6 (2) (2007) 334-336. Srinagar-Garhwal), 125-127.