Ship Breaking Industries of Bangladesh

Ship break of serve Activities in Bangladesh and collision of nautical Biodiversity Prabal Barua Associate Program Officer YPSA The nautical env atomic number 26ment of the coastal peeing is vital to adult malekind on a global as considerably as on local basis concerning energy. Man is becoming a dominant part of the ecosystem in creationy regions, due to his various uses of the nautical environment. So the health of marine ecosystem is an important factor in man own existence.The Bay of Bengal which is a potential bode of marine lifespan as well as for its vast coastal communities is directly continu on the wholey polluted by different types of pollutant through influx of k outrightledge domain base and other sources and put an alarming signal of aw arness most pollution in the ocean. The coastal argonas of Chittagong Support a complex trophic organization sustain a high biodiversity including some endemic species and ar highly susceptible to interference from activiti es. Coastal ecosystem scrams a sustainable sustainment particularly to coastal slant communities.Ship fracture yards along the coast of Chittagong (Faujdarhat to Kumira) has fuck off a par occur importance in the macro instruction-and micro-economic context of p overty- stricken Bangladesh. Shipbreaking activities stand for both challenge and opportunity for coastal zone management in holistic manner. The history of ravish breaking is as virtually over-the-hill as delightbuilding. As we know that a ship is relatively a large vessel capable of operating in the abstruse ocean. The border vessels applies to the vessels of over 5000 tons and that can navigate in feed seas.In Bangladesh ship breaking is popularly cognize as Beaching. Ship breaking started as a business in Bangladesh in 1972. Prior to that, 2/3 ships were scrapped during Pakistan period. It started automatically when a 20000 DWT vessel was drive ashore by the annihilative tidal bore of 1965. That was the f irst ship scrapped on the 2 Chittagong sea beach. At present, ship breaking is conducted in an atomic number 18a of ab start 10 km by 32 out of 110 ship fault yards from Bhatiari, Sonaichhari, kumira under the Sitakunda upazilla of Chittagong.The Department of Environment (DoE) has categorized the Ship Breaking constancy (SBI) as Red in 1995(EIA guidelines for the Industries, 1997). The Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is non conducted before the establishment of SBI. As there is no monitoring cell, the Shipyard owners atomic number 18 operating their business overwhelmingly as well as indiscriminately. They be less conscious about hazards, toxicity and environmental pollution whereas much conscious about their benefit. Wastes of the scrapped ships be discharged directly into its adjacent vault of heavens which atomic number 18 ultimately draining into the Bay of Bengal.These wastes especially oil and oily substances, PCBs, TBTs, PAHs and so forth and different types of trace and heavy metals (Cd, Pb, and Hg) are being accumulated into the marine biota. As a result, marine weighteries diversity of the Chittagong coast that supports highly modify marine water fishes, mollusks and benthic organisms etc. is at the stake secure at this moment. Moreover the Coastal inhabitants/fisher folks lead not only their livelihoods but in like manner solely depend on the coastal resources for their protein source.The CPUE (Catch Per Unit effort) has drastically been cut to more than half comparatively of a few decades ago. As a consequence, the coastal fisher folks are at the stake of their existence. They are either deviation their hereditary trade or migrating to other places and becoming environmental refugees. That is why their socio-economic status is beneath the poverty level. There are few studies was done to find out the linkage between Ship breaking activity (SBA) and the marine pollution, meeting on fisheries biodiversity and livelihoods o f the fishermen community.In those researches, investigators considered Bhatiary to Kumira as affected compass and Sandwip Island as visualize area from the shipbreaking activity. The eastern side of Sandwip has been considered as control state of affairs because these are diagonally oppo invest and off the SBYs and the water and soil qualities are apparently uninvolved from pollutants as revealed from the earlier studies. From the previous analysis we effectuate that trace metals absorption in sediments at shipbreaking area are so much high than recommendation by GESAMP (Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of nautical Pollution).But the researchers demonstrate that Sandwip which is significantly very lower than that of sediments at affected area. The values of ternary (Pb), Cadmium(Cd) and Mercury(Hg) set in motion six and half eight and half and ninety cardinal times higher(pre titular)(prenominal) than that of certified values respectively. These could be attributed to the combined effectuate of oil and oil spillage, petroleum hydrocarbons from ships, tankers, mechanized boats etc. During the investigation all the researcher found water qualities such as Hydrogen Ion H Concentration (p ), Dissolve Oxygen (D. O), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (B. O. D), chemical substance Oxygen Demand (C. O.D), Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Total neuter state Solid (TDS), Oil and Ammonia (NH3) were concentrated as a higher value in affected area than control area accord to the standard value of water quality for the coastal water of Bangladesh (EQS, 1991). wholly the parameters observed such a higher that they exceeded the value of EQS. But the water parameters in Sandwip channel were optimum and near to the value of EQS standard. Water qualities in affected area exceeded the EQS standard which reveals that the water body of the adjacent area of ship breaking yards is not suitable for the existence of flora and fauna.The higher concentration was due to the discharge of various refuse oils and oily substances, dyes, chemicals, iron pieces, various types of metal rusts, solids, dyes, erosion of soil dust etc. from the ship breaking yards. Pollutants are also discharged from the Sitakunda industrial area into the feed-off open to the Bay. Impact of Marine Biodiversity Biodiversity, which is sort for biologic diversity, is the term used to depict the whole variety of life on earth. In popular usage, the enunciate biodiversity is often used to describe all the species living in a particular area.Biodiversity can be summarized as Life on earth. It is delimit as The varieties of life on earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystem, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain it. The total biodiversity of an area can be worried down into two hierarchical components the number of functional types of organisms (animals and plants) or ecosystems (forest, prairie, tundra and marine intertidal) and the number o f functionally equivalent organisms within each functional type.There are three types of aspects to biodiversity species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity. All three interact and change over time and from place to place. Phytoplankton is the primary nutrition producers of the aquatic home ground and plays an important role in the food chain. Phytoplankton is the best index of the biological productivity. outline of phytoplankton showed that during monsoon, Aanabaena , Clostratrum(10. 98%) and Coscinodiscus(21. 97%), Euglena (9. 89%) and Zygnema (30. 76%) and during convey monsoon Coscinodiscus (97. 5%) and Euglena (2. 5%) dominated in the affected site.In the control site of Sandwip, these were dominated as 30. 41%, 19. 46% 17. 03% 9. 73% 23. 35% in the monsoon and 94. 73% and 5. 26% respectively in the blot monsoon. Throughout the take up period the abundance of phytoplankton at affected site was 91 cells/ l in monsoon harden and 80 cells/ l in post monsoo n succession and in control site it was 411 cells/l in monsoon season and one hundred ninety cells / l in post monsoon season. Drifting small floating animals, in the water body are collectively known as zooplankton on which the whole aquatic life depends directly or indirectly.As zooplankton is very dainty to optimum condition, so the coastal pollution due to ship breaking activities may take a shit profound affects on its survival and occurrence. Analysis of zooplankton showed that Calanoida, Cyclopedia, Sagitta, equal etc in the monsoon and Calanoida Acetes shrimp Lucifer and Zoea in the post monsoon were dominated in the affected site as revealed during zooplankton analysis whereas in the control site the dominant zooplankton were found as Calanoida, Cylpclpedia, Sagitta and Zoea during the post monsoon and Calanoida Acetes shrimp, Lucifer, Cladocera and Zoea in the post monsoon respectively.The idler living organisms the benthos play an important role in the food chain es pecially in the inter tidal zone and it is also well recognized that the richest fisheries of the world are closely related to the benthic communities. Among the macro benthos, Amphipods, Polychaetes, Nemertina and Fish egg in the monsoon and Nemertina, Cladocera, Cyclopoida and Calanoida were found to be dominated at the affected site.But at the control site, Amphipod, Polychaete, Nemertina, Fish egg during the monsoon and Cladocera, Nemertina , Calanoida and Polychaete in the post monsoon were dominated So, the abundance of macro benthos in affected site was 118. 46 ind. / m3 in monsoon season and 4186. 74 ind. / m3 in post monsoon season, while in in the control site 368. 28 ind. / m3 in monsoon season and 14204. 41 ind. / m3 in post monsoon season.The fishery resources of the area seems to be affected by the ship breaking activities as revealed by increased angle efforts, reduced species diversity, increased amount of trash fish. Horizontal expansion of the ship breaking yards has posed flagellum not only to the diversified coastal resources but also on the adjacent coastal inhabitants specially the fisher folks. The seek hamlets of this study were found backward in the field of primary education and health that are the basic needs for them.Communication and drinking water supply were observed copesetic but the sanitation status was found to be very pathetic. democratic Rural Appraisal (PRA) study showed that about 90% of them were local and replete(p) time fishermen and 10% were migratory of different districts including Bhola, Barisal, Mymensingh and others. The fisher folks are dissatisfied with different NGO activities working in this area. No governance aid was found to be available for the welfare of fishermen communities.The catch has declined in the tune of at least(prenominal) 50 to 60% of what was two decades ago. This consequent has got serious implication in the context of survival of such a disgraced community. It was found that abo ut 70% of the fishermen had either nets or boats or both of them. They use both mechanized and non-mechanized boats and some traditional fishing crafts (Dinghi) for fishing. Among the fishing nets Set Beg Net (Behundi Jal) and Gill Net (Ilish Jal) were found to be widely used.Though the gears are available for fishing, they can catch a very little amount in every effort. They uniquely account that the fish catch had been reduced more than half of the previous time. Analysis of catch composition indicates that some commercially important fishes like Indian salmon (Polynemus indicus) commonly known as Lakhua, grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) known as body coral Long jew fish (Otolithoides brunneus) locally known as lombu fish spanish mackerel (Cybium guttatum) known as maitta and butter fish (Psenes indicus) etc are in endangered position.Some other commercially important fishes like River shad (Tenualusa ilisha) Jwelled shad (Ilisha filigera) locally known as choikka mud skipper ( Gobies) mango fish (Polynemus paradysius) known as Hriska Machh silver pomfret (Stromateus chinensis) bombay duck (Herpodon nehereus) mullet ( Mugil cephalus) Sea basso (Lates calcarifer) Anchovy(Coilia dussumeri Coilia ramkorati Setipinna taty) etc are reduced in catch. Many coastal fishermen are leaving their hereditary profession and moving around everyday as environmental refugees from a state of unemployed and poverty to underemployment and grim poverty.Due to the deterioration of the water body, fishes are moving away from this area into the deep sea. But the poor fishermen with small fishing boats can hardly fish at deep seas the creditors and swindlers are taking this chances and rush to lend money and thus make them run into debt. The fishermen also reported that while they catch fish at sea they face piracy. They also face the muscle man, middle man and swindlers when they return with fewer amounts of fish.. These criminals snatch away the fishes forcefully. The fishermen are exploited by the dealers in dadon (earnest money).It is made obligatory that the middleman determines the price of fish in the season of fish. They are to sell fish to the lenders at a nominal or throwaway price. The middlemen indulge in maintaining miscreants to exercise their authority over them. Before the season of fish they borrow 4/5 curtilage Taka from the dadonders (Buyers cum earnest money lenders) to repair the boat which lead them run into debt. Generally the months of MarchApril-May (Falgoon-Chaitra-Baishakh) are the season of scarcity as reported by the fishermen during PRA survey.At this time they require at least Tk. 4000/5000 to repair their boats, nets and for other attendant expenses. Most of the fishermen opined that Ship Breaking action (SBA) creates problems to them and the rest did not respond. Besides, 90% of the villagers of the vicinity were anxious about their existence in future. Their nets for the catching fish become stuck with oil and impurities . They suffer from respiratory difficulties, sonic booms, explosions, lightning, fumes, toxic chemicals and peel diseases.It is clear from the sociological study that coastal fish species diversity has been reduced due to the ship breaking activities. The fishermens hereditary profession is now at the vulnerable position due to the Ship Breaking Activity (SBA) less access to credit etc. But the most fire thing is that they are not conscious about their rights and deprivation. The increasing SBA is depleting the fishery resources which simultaneously decreasing catch per unit effort (CPUE). So this line is provoking the fisher folks to change their livelihoods for what they never feel shelter and safe.Land grabbing by the yard owners also occurs sometime. Expansion of the yard shrinks the area of the fishing villages. They have to leave their space with a very nominal price. They have rights over only 200 feet of the seashore where they dry nets and anchor boats. eroding of the village by sea wave action threatened the fishing villages decade after decade. It started in sixties and nearly half a kilometer of the village has disappeared into the sea. Now at least 20,000 people engaged in catching fish are at the stake of their existence.Bangladesh is a party to the Convention on Biological novelty (CBD), 1992 and the Biosafety Protocol. Bangladesh is also a party to the Convention on international handle in Endangered Species of Wild fauna and Flora (CITES). Bangladesh has a Marine Fisheries Ordinance 1983 (ordinance No XXXV) and under this ordinance government may concur any area of Bangladesh fisheries waters and any adjacent or border land to be a marine reserve (Part VII). So, if government pull up stakes declare Sandwip channel and its adjacent area as a marine reserve area for fisheries biodiversity it will be.Besides, there are many laws, rules and polices in Bangladesh to conserve marine biodiversity such as The territorial water and maritime zones act (1974) and rules (1977), The forest act (1917), Environment Conservation Act (1995), apology and Conservation of Fish rules (1985), national fish policy (1996), the water policy (1999), the environment policy (1992). If we conserve our diversify marine biodiversity it will be urgent need to establish environment friendly Shipbreaking activity in Bangladesh.Related article Padma Bridge