Critically endangered mohashol, Tor tor: Present status and road to conservation in Bangladesh

Mohashol, Tor tor is one of the most beautiful indigenous fish of Bangladesh. It is a globally acclaimed sport and table fish and distributed in many South and Southeast Asian countries. In the past Tor tor was reported to be available in some rivers of different parts of Bangladesh, but at present this species is very rarely found only in Someshwari, one of the transboundary rivers of Bangladesh. Illegal fishing practices, soil erosion and siltation, construction of flood control and drainage structures, excessive human intervention on this river for livelihood as well as climate change have been considered as the main causes to degrade the habitat of mohashol. Moreover, unscientific coal mining in Meghalaya has further aggravated the problem. Consequently, T. tor has been red listed as critically endangered fish in Bangladesh. Though few attempts have been made for conservation of T. putitora, the endangered T. tor did not get such due importance. So, it is the prime time to put our heads together to conserve this lucrative, aristocratic and iconic fish and to design an integrated conservation project under a multilateral agreement among the South Asian countries specially India, Bangladesh and Nepal as the initial step in this regard.