Nearly 50,000 fish have perished in the past one month in different parts of Bardia due to a mystery disease. Most of the deaths have been reported from Sorahawa and Basgadi which are known as fish pocket areas. Fish farmers said that around 1,000 fish farmed in ponds and lakes were dying daily. Fish ponds are filling up with dead fish and farmers have not been able to identify the disease that may cause their ruin. More than 20,000 fish raised on 75 hectares in Bardia Lake have died.
Pushpa Bhusal of Sorahawa has been rearing fish in the lake. He has leased the lake from the district development committee to rear fish. Local fish farmer Lallu Ram Tharu said he was losing 200 to 300 fish daily. The District Agriculture Office has started to spray medicines on the ponds and lakes to control the disease. There are no labs in the Mid-Western Region to identify the disease, said fisheries development officer Ram Awatar Harijan. READ MORE
