Agnes Krocha
A small stream that cuts across the bottom of two hills dividing two colonies of Kohima was once the habitat of small fishes and crabs.Livingnearby the stream, it was always so much fun in my childhood, to watch those tiny fishes of a kind swimming about, sometimes dirtying the water and leaving behind a distinct trail. And it was no less fun turning tiny rocks upside down to look for crabs in that little stream, where I probably first saw crabs under rocks.
On World Fisheries Day, while the world talks about fisheries of all kinds, be it Marine Fishery, Freshwater Fishery or Inland Fishery, Estuarine Fishery or Pearl Fishery, I wonder, seeing no more of those tiny fishes, if it has become another extinct kind of fish.
Man had done so much to harm these little beings. Those families of fishes probably were hurt so much by the buckets of detergents poured on it almost everyday when water was found in plenty in the stream. Then with more people inhabiting the area came more wastes into the stream, which slowly became a popular site for disposal of wastes, which includes human excreta, kitchen wastes, plastics and any rubbish you can name. All these contributed much to the degradation and the drying up of the stream, making those little fishes disappear from the face of the earth. Hopefully their kind have not become extinct.
While consumption of fishes is a common thing amongst our people, perhaps too little is done to boost fishery in our land. And while it’s true that ours is not a coastal area, it doesn’t mean that because it is not so, we cannot do something about improving fishery in our land. Cultivation of fishes of all kinds should be encouraged. This will certainly enhance our economy as well as improve the health of our people. However, cultivation of fishes of the local kind should be all the more encouraged. It is often heard now that the local varieties of fishes are found in lesser and lesser number every year. Increase in human population is certainly a number one factor here. Nevertheless, we should develop ways and means to cultivate these fishes so that the local variety of fishes which may not be found in other parts of the world may be preserved and may be saved from extinction. For whether we know it or not the extinction of a species of fish would make us poorer one way or the other.
Before you catch that little fish that is one of a kind, next time, think again and let go till it produces more of its kind. And when there are lots of fishes produced, go fishing and happy fishing then. Of all the planets in the solar system, earth is the only planet sustaining life. And of all life forms on earth man alone is the ultimate receiving end. Everything on earth seems to be created for man’s benefit. It’s up to us to preserve the earth or destroy it. But when we have destroyed it, where can we buy another earth? Indeed! Whatever befalls the earth befalls mankind
