Patna : A Rapid Action Project (RAP) of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) is popularising the use of an alternative oil, which will help conserve the rare Gangetic dolphin in the eastern Indian state of Bihar .

The Bihar stretch of the river Ganges has one of the largest surviving populations of this rare freshwater dolphin. Fishermen regularly kill it to use its oil for attracting catfish in a unique method of angling not practised anywhere else in the country.

Prof. Ravindra Kumar Sinha of Patna University , an acknowledged expert on the species, discovered that an alternative oil, which serves the same purpose as dolphin oil, can be extracted from fish scraps by a simple process. He is popularising it among the fisherman as a part of this project by demonstrating the effectiveness of the alternative oil by fishing with it.

The RAP entitled “Popularization of alternative of dolphin oil among fishermen for the conservation of Gangetic Dolphin”, was started in October, 2003 in the river Ganga at Patna . The project which was funded by the UK-based David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) aimed at conserving the Ganges River Dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, commonly known as “sons”, took place from October to December, 2003 and from April to June, 2004.

The “sons” is one of the four freshwater dolphins found in the world and is distributed between tidal zones and in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river systems in India , Nepal and Bangladesh . In the year 1996 this species was categorized as Endangered by The World Conservation Union (IUCN). At present the species is facing threats of extinction throughout its distribution range.

Dolphin oil is used by fishermen in the Ganges to attract the fishes Clupisoma garua and Eutropiichthys vacha. Judging by the number of dolphin carcasses needed to supply fisheries that use dolphin oil as an attractant, the number of Gangetic dolphins, killed accidentally or deliberately, is almost certainly unsustainable.

Dolphins are mainly hunted in the low water season in summer when they congregate at the confluence of the Ganges and Gandak Rivers to find food. During this period, many fishermen also use this area to fish.

“The principal investigator of this project, Prof. Ravindra Kumar Sinha, discovered an alternative to the dolphin oil as fish attractant from fish scraps two years ago. A serious need of extension of this alternative was felt and thus this project was taken up by WTI,” said Joydeep Bose, Programme Officer of the Wild Aid programme that runs the Rapid Action Programme.

“Through this project, we demonstrated the process of extracting oil from fish scraps and using it in oil fisheries among local fishermen. After comparing it with dolphin oil the fishermen found that fish scrap oil was a better alternative and many fishermen welcomed this new alternative”, said Field Officer, Samir Kumar Sinha who took the main initiative behind this project.

The sites selected for the demonstration of oil fishing using fish scrap oil were Fatuha, Gaighat, Digha, Doriganj, Danapur and Collectorate ghat in and around Patna . As per the project the demonstrations took place twice a month. In December, the Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of Bihar, Sri Jagadananda Singh undertook a Dolphin watch and also had a discussion with Dr. R.K. Sinha and a demonstration of fishing with fish scrap oil was organized.

During the summer season a comparison between the catch made by using dolphin oil and the catch made by using fish oil showed that the latter was more effective in producing a good catch. The demonstration was not carried out in the winter season but was renewed in April. The project was a great success and effected a major move towards popularizing an alternative over the use of dolphin oil.