Fishing with Otters: a Traditional Conservation Practice in Bangladesh

Fishing with otters has been practiced in Bangladesh for the last two hundred years. This traditional practice plays an important role in otter conservation in Bangladesh. Among the three species of otters found in Bangladesh, only Lutra perspicillata is currently used for fishing by the fishermen in and around the Sundarbans. Noraile and Khulna districts, near the Sundarbans, are the only districts in the country where this species is bred in captivity, tamed, and used for fishing by the fishermen. These fishermen are completely dependent on this technique for their livelihood. These tamed otters are used for fishing in rivers inside the Sundarbans during winter and pre-monsoon. Fishing occurs outside the Sundarbans only during monsoon. The whole fishing system is unique, involving three people, a boat, a net, two adult tamed otters, and an immature trainee otter. The tamed otters generally do not catch fish by themselves during fishing rather they chase fish towards a special fishing net placed in the water away from the boat. Otters start driving fish to the net from different directions and when they come close to the net, the fishermen pull the net into the boat. Fishing with otters occurs at night, mostly between 2100h and 0500h. Fish are captured during 8 to 12 periods by each fishing group per night. The total nightly weight of captured fish varies from 4 to 12 kg. We recorded 176 otters of different age and sex classes in captivity belonging to 46 fishermen groups in two districts. Among these, 138 adult otters are actively involved in fishing. The remaining animals are infants, juveniles, or very old. These otters breed successfully in captivity and maintain their population. Approximately 300 people are directly involved in this fishing technique and another 2,000 people indirectly depend on this method of fishing for their livelihood. This species of otter is conserved traditionally both in captivity and in the wild in this area.