e Rese tur arc ul h c & a u D q e A v e f l o o Miah et al., J Aquac Res Development 2015, 6:9 l p a m n Journal of Aquaculture r e u n o t DOI: 10.4172/2155-9546.1000362 J ISSN: 2155-9546 Research & Development Research Article OpenOpen Access Access Present Status of Coastal Fisheries in Sitakunda Coast with Special Reference on Climate Change and Fish Catch Md. Nasir Uddin Miah1, Md. Mostafa Shamsuzzaman2*, Ahmed Harun-Al-Rashid3 and Partho Protim Barman2 1Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, University of Chittagong, Chittagong-4331, Bangladesh 2Department of Coastal and Marine Fisheries, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh 3Department of Aquatic Resource Management, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh Abstract Climate change is the burning issue of the present world and considered as a social fabrics. Present study was carried out at Sitakunda coast, Chittagong and aimed to assess the trend of climate change and identify its impact on coastal fisheries. Meteorological data for assessing climate change trend from 1980 to 2010 were collected from meteorological department and primary data from extensive field survey to identify the climate change impact on fisheries resource. Data revealed that seasonal pattern of meteorological parameters i.e. temperature and rainfall has been changing for past thirty one years. The fisheries resources of Sitakunda coast have been declined gradually for the past thirty one years as a consequence of continuous change in the climatic pattern. Keywords: Coastal fisheries; Climate change; Sitakunda; Sitakunda is an area along the south eastern coast of Bangladesh Temperature; Rainfall with an area of 483.97 sq km, is bounded by the Feni River on the north, the Karnaphulli River on the south and the Sandwip channel Introduction on the west. It is one of the western most locations of Chittagong by The human demand forfish as a consumable, because of its rich the Sandwip channel. It has a population of nearly 3, 35, 180. There protein content, has been going up the world over, consistent with the are 8 unions in Sitakunda. Main occupations of the inhabitants are growth of human population [1]. In 1970, coastal fisheries constituted agriculture, fishing, agricultural laborer, wage laborer, transport, only 10.6% of the total fishery production but the proportion of coastal business, service and others [9]. fisheries production increased to 28.2% in 1993. In 1996 this proportion, A large number of the populations of Sitakunda coast are directly however, declined to 22% [2]. The coastal belt of Bangladesh is blessed or indirectly dependent on the local inshore capture fishery. It also with a wide variety of economically important coastal fisheries resources plays an important role in the rural economy and the livelihood of the is important as much as 25% of the population, estimated 30.6 million rural population. However a few researches have been conducted on people live there [3]. This is an important area where active fishing is the effects of climate change on fisheries resources of Sitakunda coast. practiced and hence contains unique importance in the fishery of the Hence, the present study was conducted to get a preliminary idea about Bay of Bengal [4]. the effect of climate change on the fisheries resources of Sitakunda area. Coastal areas are highly vulnerable to both natural and man-made Materials and Methods hazards and disasters like coastal flooding, cyclones, storm surges, erosion, salinity, arsenic contamination, and pollution [5]. These Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was carried out using field disasters are triggered by a number of critical factors. Temperature observations and community level group meeting with different is fundamental component of climate which has wide ranges effects stakeholders group to gather primary information, following the on ecosystem. Changes in temperature can in turn cause change in approaches [10-13]. Data on community perception were collected sea temperature, precipitation patterns and other aspects of climate. through structured questionnaire survey, focus group discussion and Generally, increased temperature results in evaporation from the participatory observation. Questionnaire interviews are suitable for oceans and lands, leading to more overall precipitation. Rainfall can eliciting perceptions, motivations and feelings [14]. Questionnaire was also affects the amount of water available for drinking and irrigation prepared with a varieties of questions emphasizing on people engaged in and can also determine what types of animals and plants can survive coastal capture fisheries activities, harvested fish, catch trend, duration in a particular place [6]. Change in rainfall can disrupt a wide range of fisheries operation, most abundant species, problems of fishermen, of natural process, particularly if these changes occur abruptly and living species don’t have time to adopt [6]. Sea level change can affect mangrove and their animals in coastal areas. For example, rising sea *Corresponding author: Shamsuzzaman MM, Department of Coastal and levels can lead to increased flooding and erosion, which is a particular Marine Fisheries, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh, Tel: concern in low lying areas in coast. The sea level changes that affect +8801816434985; E-mail: [email protected] coastal systems involve more than just expanding oceans. In order Received June 03, 2015; Accepted June 15, 2015; Published September 15, areas, land can sink because of erosion, sediment compaction, and 2015 natural subsidence. Sea level rise also can alter ecosystem, transforming Citation: Miah MNU, Shamsuzzaman MM, Harun-Al-Rashid A, Barman PP marshes and other wetlands into open waters and freshwater system to (2015) Present Status of Coastal Fisheries in Sitakunda Coast with Special salt water. Sea level rise in the coming decades will create over 25 million Reference on Climate Change and Fish Catch. J Aquac Res Development 6: 362. climate refugees [7]. Hurricanes, tropical storms and other intense rotating doi:10.4172/2155-9546.1000362 storms fall into a general category called cyclone. The associated storm Copyright: © 2015 Miah MNU, et al. This is an open-access article distributed surge: the large volume of ocean water pushed ashore by the cyclone’s under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the strong winds can also cause severe flooding and destruction [8]. original author and source are credited. J Aquac Res Development ISSN: 2155-9546 JARD, an open access journal Volume 6 • Issue 9 • 1000362 Citation: Miah MNU, Shamsuzzaman MM, Harun-Al-Rashid A, Barman PP (2015) Present Status of Coastal Fisheries in Sitakunda Coast with Special Reference on Climate Change and Fish Catch. J Aquac Res Development 6: 362. doi:10.4172/2155-9546.1000362 Page 2 of 5 suggestions of fishermen for the management of coastal fisheries management. Questionnaire for people engaged in coastal capture fisheries activities. Participatory observation offer a good opportunity to get a comprehensive and authentic insight in actual situations of the evaluation topic including “actions, conversations, and physical descriptions” [14]. Participatory observation was conducted to realize the existing realities of climate change impact on fisheries resource. FGD were conducted to identify the seasonal and daily activities of the community as it has the advantage that a tendency of self-correction mechanism within the group because if one person put across an over- favorable picture of his/her own or group’s behavior, a peer would give a more realistic observation. Greenhouse gases, high temperatures, high rate of evaporation, heavy rainfall, high humidity, fairly marked seasonal variations (hot summer season, hot and humid monsoon season and cooler and drier winter season), cross boundary river flows, mean sea level are related with meterological condition [15-17]. Temperature and rainfall, cyclone intensity data (1980-2010) were collected by Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) which keeps historical records from weather coastal station around Figure 1: The study area (Sitakunda coast) (Banglapedia, 2009). the Bangladesh. To get a specific view of the rising of the sea level in Bangladesh, an average mean sea level was calculated based on the Permanent Service Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) database from the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory. The average sea level in the Bay Ave. annual temperature of Bengal has risen from 1979 until 2003. This rise of sea level is in line 28 27 with the global sea level rise. Yearly, monthly and seasonal temperature 26 25 Bangladesh coastal areas C and rainfall, cyclone intensity and sea level data variation, comparison ° 24 Sitakunda and distribution were evaluated using computer program Microsoft 23 excels. 22 21 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Study Area Year Sitakunda coast was mainly selected as research site which is one Figure 2: Graphical comparison of average annual temperature (°C) between of the western most locations of Chittagong and Chittagong hill tracts. Bangladesh coastal areas and Sitakunda. It is situated at the north-western part of Chittagong district between 22°34’ N and 22°43’ N latitude and 91°38’ E and 91°41’ E longitude. It occupies an area of 483.97 sq. km and 23 miles away from the port city Ave. annual rainfall Chittagong. It is delimited in the north by Feni River, the Karnaphulli 450 River in the south and the Halda River in the east and the Sandwip 400 350 300 channel in the west. The richest Sandwip channel (area of 1723.75 Bangladesh coastal areas m 250 m 200 Sitakunda hectare) is adjacent to the Sitakunda coast (Figure 1).