Abstract

This research was carried out to determine the abundance, distribution, and marketing channels of Botia dario in several areas of Bangladesh through a questionnaire survey. Survey information was collected from the fishermen, aratdar, faria, retailer, consumer, wholesaler and aquarium fish keeper. The quantity of B. dario gathered overall from the four districts of Mymensingh, Kishoregonj, Sunamgonj, and Sylhet and calculated the abundance of this species. B. dario was discovered in considerably larger quantities at Dekhar Haor in south Sunamgonj and Bhramhaputra River in Mymensingh than other locations. This species started to appear in local markets in August, although it was more common from September to October and becomes scarce after November. In the marketing channel, fishermen directly sold B. dario to the consumer (22.6%), to the retailers (19%), to the aratdar (50%), and to the wholesaler of the ornamental fish market (5%) and a little portion (3.4%) was consumed by them. There were two species of Botia available in the ornamental central fish market of Katabon, Dhaka. Among the shopkeeper in this market, 2% were stocked B. dario and 16% stocked B. lohachata. In each month, average 30 pieces of live B. dario are sold by a shopkeeper in the ornamental fish market where an average price was 40 BDT per pair. Price ranges for dead B. dario in the food fish market vary greatly, from 450 to 700 BDT per kg. Lower price of live B. dario was observed in the sunamganj’s fish market compared to the other fish market. In the ornamental fish market, 57% of shopkeeper reported that has medium demand and 43% has low demand. But in the edible fish market, 35% of respondents reported strong demand and has medium demand by the 65% responder. Due to its enormous potential in the fisheries sector and the demand it has in both markets, conservation and culture are essential to prevent the extinction of this species.

Keywords: Fish abundance, Marketing channel, Botia dario, Catch per unit, Live fish