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Reproductive environment of the decreasing Indian river shad in Asian inland waters: disentangling the climate change and indiscriminative fishing threats

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Title Reproductive environment of the decreasing Indian river shad in Asian inland waters: disentangling the climate change and indiscriminative fishing threats
Not Available
 
Creator Uttam Kumar Sarkar
Koushik Roy
Gunjan Karnatak
Malay Naskar
Mishal Puthiyottil
Snigdha Baksi
Lianthuamluaia Lianthuamluaia
Suman Kumari
Bandana Das Ghosh
Basanta Kumar Das
 
Subject Breeding thresholds
Breeding phenology
Mesh size
Pre-spawning girth
Gudusia chapra
Freshwater clupeids
 
Description Not Available
The regional climate has significantly warmed with erratically declining annual rainfall and intensified downpour within a
narrower span of monsoon months, which led to an increased trophic state (≈algae) in most inland waters. Freshwater clupeids
vitally control the aquatic food chain by grazing on algae. Despite increasing food availability, IUCN Red List® revealed 16
freshwater clupeids with a decreasing population trend. We investigated one such species’ reproductive dependencies, Gudusia
chapra (Indian river shad), in the lower Gangetic drainage (India) under a mixed context of climate change and overfishing.
Monthly rainfall (≥ 60–100 mm) and water temperature (≥ 31–32 °C) are key breeding cues for females. The regional climate
seems inclined to fulfill these through the significant part of the breeding season, and indeed the species has maintained consistent
breeding phenology over 20 years. Other breeding thresholds relevant to fishing include size at first maturity (≥ 6.8 cm; reduced
by ~ 25–36%) and pre-spawning girth (Girthspawn50 ≥ 7 cm; first record). Girthspawn50 is a proxy of the minimum mesh size
requirement of fishing nets to allow safe passage of “gravid” females ( + 22%bulged abdomen) and breed. The operational fishing
nets (3–10 cm mesh) probably have been indulged in indiscriminative fishing of gravid females for generations. Under a
favorably changing climate and food availability, existing evidence suggests a fishery-induced evolution in regional females
(to circumvent such mesh sizes) through earlier maturation/puberty at smaller sizes. It could be an early warning sign of
population collapse (smaller females → lessening fecundity → fewer offspring). Overfishing seemed to be a bigger threat than
climate change.
Not Available
 
Date 2021-08-11T06:28:18Z
2021-08-11T06:28:18Z
2021-02-03
 
Type Research Paper
 
Identifier Sarkar, U. K., Roy, K., Karnatak, G., Naskar, M., Puthiyottil, M., Baksi, S., ... & Das, B. K. (2021). Reproductive environment of the decreasing Indian river shad in Asian inland waters: disentangling the climate change and indiscriminative fishing threats. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(23), 30207-30218.
Not Available
http://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/handle/123456789/54636
 
Language English
 
Relation Not Available;
 
Publisher Springer