Golden Mahseer conservation on the Ramganga by Joel Wright

MINING AND DYNAMITING, CAN THE MIGHTY MAHSEER SURVIVE? 

The Ramganga River that runs alongside the Jim Corbett National Park is pristine. Casually peering into the river you will inevitably see swarms of golden mahseer darting around in the clear water hunting for small Chilwa. Look along the bank and you may see an Otter swimming in the shallows or a Gharial basking in the sun, point your head skywards and you’ll likely see a flock of Cormorants and perhaps a fish eagle soaring overhead. It is a complete river ecosystem. However, this reality is in stark contrast to the same river just 20km upstream where damaging human activities are severely altering the river landscape and putting a huge strain on the local wildlife.  

During a month period in March 2010, with the support of Sumantha Ghosh founder and president of Mahseer Conservancy and guidance from Dr.Shiv Kumar of The Wildlife Institute of India, I conducted an investigation into the effect human activities were having on the populations of golden mahseer on a 15km section of the Ramganga River up and downstream of Bhikiasain,

Almora.  

We found that there are two major threats to the already dwindling golden mahseer populations. The first is the destruction of habitat and seasonal spawning grounds caused by mining, water extraction and pollution. The second, more direct threat is the killing of fry, fingerling and adult mahseer through the use of indiscriminate fishing methods such as dynamiting, electrocution, netting and snares all of which were found to be widespread. 

The extraction of sand, gravel and rocks used for building materials is occurring intensively along this stretch of river. Not only is this scarring the river landscape, it also disrupts the natural river ecosystem and will potentially contaminate the local water supply. Clear, fast-flowing and rocky waters are essential for the mahseer to thrive and any changes to these conditions disrupt the fish’s ability to feed and breed successfully. Therefore, siltation of the river caused by mining could potentially have disastrous consequences for the survival of the mahseer. Furthermore, widespread reduction of river levels in the area caused by global warming and over extraction of water exasperates siltation, the effects of which are already being noticed. Chris Summers, an angling guide in the area commented that ‘the water is definitely murkier. In past years it was crystal clear, you could count the pebbles in 6ft of water, now you can’t’.  

15% of the locations observed in the study had some sort of mining activity taking place. In several locations sand was being extracted on a large scale to be sold commercially in the market. Mining was particularly intensive on the Gages River, a tributary of the Ramganga that runs through Bhikyasain. Here, families were mining sand from the river bed every day for jeeps and lorries to collect and transport to the market. This was dramatically altering the natural flow of the river and caused a crater effect with banks of discarded gravel and pools of stagnant water.  

Not only will the mahseer be affected by the reduced clarity levels, the river water on which so many people depend will be of lower quality and may become undrinkable. Water shortages are already prevalent and this will only add to the vulnerability of the area. 

Mahseer is a highly valued food fish in this locality and the fishing pressure is acute in order to meet the demand. Dynamite is a common and hugely destructive method of fishing used on the river. The fishing method is not selective; it kills everything within the vicinity of the blast. On the 8^th of March a boy fishing downstream of Bhikyasain said that a turtle was killed earlier that morning by mistake when a group was fishing using the explosive. When surveying a deep pool in below the village of Naula a woman commented that our efforts were pointless as dynamite was used in the pool every day and there were no longer any fish left. The survey found that the densities of golden mahseer were very low along the 15km of Ramganga with the exception of a few small sanctuaries next to temples. In these isolated areas where the killing of fish is prohibited fish of all species find refuge and are found in large numbers. These protected pools at Senala Temple and Kadar Bridge attract angling tourism which practices catch-and-release, providing a lucrative income for the temples. Chris Summers commented that this had been his most successful year to date catching mahseer at Senela Temple but was hesitant to attribute this to an increase in population suggesting it was most likely a case of improved baits, tackle and methods used.  

The golden mahseer is a migratory fish that travels great distances upstream to spawn in smaller streams and tributaries during the monsoon rains. This means that although healthy populations of the species are protected in the Jim Corbett National Park these fish still have to run the gauntlet of travelling through the heavily degraded, highly populated section of river in order to get to and from their seasonal spawning grounds. Many of these fish don’t make it, when interviewed Birendra Rawat from Bhikiasain claimed that during the monsoon he eats mahseer for lunch and dinner every day. This demonstrates that the success of the sanctuaries downstream will be undone unless the intense fishing pressure upstream is successfully managed, especially during the migration periods. This view was shared by Misty Dhillon, owner of Himalayan Outback near Marchula ‘The protected areas will not be effective unless something is done about the slaughtering of mahseer when they migrate to breed’  

It cannot be denied that the golden mahseer is one of the most magnificent fish that inhabit the fresh waters of India. It is the official fish of Uttarakhand and anglers from across the globe travel to the state in the hope of catching ‘the hardest fighting of fresh water species’. The fish can grow to 6 feet in length, in excess of 50kg and while the distinctive golden colours and elegantly streamlined body account for its beauty, the clear, fast flowing waters in which it lives can be reason for its brute power. Indeed, Jim Corbett was passionate about the species and wrote that fishing for the golden mahseer is ‘the most fascinating of all field sports’. Angling tourism has been successfully implemented as a conservation tool downstream of the study area and it is hoped that this model can be replicated. If the money generated by tourism reaches the local population it provides a clear financial incentive to conserve the fish.  It is hoped that by focusing on the golden mahseer as a key species implementing measures to protect and restore its habitat will have a positive knock-on effect for the rest of the threatened local wildlife.