Foresters to study fish diversity at Wadhwana

Vadodara: The forest department is set to conduct a detailed fish diversity study in the Wadhwana wetlands – a Ramsar site – for the first time. The department is planning to rope in a professional organisation and seek help from research students for the study.

"The idea is to understand the diversity of fishes in this lake that hosts thousands of migratory birds, especially the fish-eating birds, every year. The lake has a rich quantity of fishes, but a detailed study hasn't been done to find out which fishes are in abundance and which ones are in lesser numbers," said Raviraj Rathod, divisional forest officer (DFO), Vadodara.

"We will be proposing a study soon. One of the key concerns is the presence of fish-eating birds. For the last four years, pelicans weren't spotted at Wadhwana. Earlier, dozens of pelicans used to be seen during the winters. We want to find out if it is due to the absence of certain fishes in the lake," Rathod told TOI.

The forest officials said that the study would help them in understanding the aqua life. Currently, the lake is under the irrigation department, and the fisheries department leases it to the contractor for fishing. The contractors are currently cultivating four types of fishes in the lake, including rohu, katala, mrigal and grass carp.

Apart from these fish, there are many other species of fishes in the sprawling lake that is primarily used for irrigation and supplies water to 25 villages in Dabhoi.