Author: Rahul Paik
Abstract: Small indigenous freshwater fishes (SIFFs) formed a vital component of West Bengal’s inland aquatic biodiversity and rural livelihoods. Yet SIFFs had been exposed to multiple, interacting threats—habitat loss and fragmentation, hydrological modification, pollution and eutrophication, overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change—that had reduced population sizes, local abundances, and distributions across many districts. This article synthesized available information on SIFF conservation status in West Bengal, assessed primary threats at basin and district scales, and proposed priority measures for monitoring, conservation and sustainable use. Drawing on regional inventories, targeted surveys, national and global syntheses of freshwater threats, and conservation frameworks, we showed that floodplain wetlands, oxbows and less-disturbed tributaries consistently supported the highest SIFF richness and hosted many taxa of conservation concern, while urbanized and heavily modified reaches exhibited depauperate, simplified communities dominated by tolerant generalists. Priority actions included (1) legal and on-ground protection of floodplain wetlands and perennial tributaries, (2) restoration of riparian buffers and floodplain connectivity, (3) community-based co-management and livelihood alternatives, (4) species-level assessments using integrative taxonomy and eDNA methods, and (5) development of a state-level monitoring framework linked to national biodiversity and fisheries policies. The recommendations were intended to guide managers, researchers, and policymakers to stem further declines and to secure the ecological and socio-economic benefits SIFFs provided
Keywords: Small Indigenous Freshwater Fishes, West Bengal, Conservation Status, Threats Assessment, Wetlands, Floodplain Connectivity, eDNA, Community Management.
Page No: 106-116