Synopsis of the Project: Microplastics pollution in natural waters is a growing concern throughout the world. Transported from the continents, by the rivers, there are now 5.25 trillion pieces of micro- & macro-plastics in our oceans & seas making a density of 46000 pieces/sq. km. Rivers transport around 8 million pieces of plastics to our oceans every day. South Asia, one of the most densely populated regions of the world, ranks 2nd globally in plastic pollution and three mighty rivers (Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy) transport most of them to the Bay of Bengal (BOB). The Brahmaputra is the 9th largest river in the world by water discharge and passes through a long path of populated human settlements during its journey to the BOB. Considering the huge volume of discharges and discards this river receives and transports to the sea, this project is aimed at investigating transboundary microplastics contamination in fish and aquatic food chain along the course of this river. During 1st year, fish, fish’s food and river water samples from 2 tributaries of the Brahmaputra in Bhutan, 5 locations in India and 3 locations in Bangladesh will be studied. During 2nd year, fish & invertebrate species will be exposed in vivo to assess trophic transfer mechanisms of microplastics in aquatic food chain and physiological stresses imposed by plastics. Microplastics research experience (in fish) of the project team leader and US team member will be instrumental in designing & implementing this research plan.

By region, South Asia ranks second in the world in plastics pollution. Again, the Bay of Bengal (BOB, located south to Bangladesh and India) is fed, among many others, by three mighty rivers - the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Irrawaddy. These rivers bring huge amounts of the pollutants off some of the world’s most densely populated countries. As a result, BOB is now considered as new plastic hotspot in Asia. Considering the huge volume of water transported by River Brahmaputra and long path of populated human settlements it passes through during its journey, the proposed project is designed with the following objectives.

 *Detect and quantify microplastics ingestion by fish in the River Brahmaputra in its upper (tributaries in Bhutan), middle (India) and lower (Bangladesh) stretches.

 *Investigate ingestion of microplastics by fish’s food (e.g. zooplankton & other invertebrates) and their relation with level of plastic pollution in the water.

 *Unravel trophic transfer mechanisms of microplastics in the aquatic food chain in vivo.Assess physiological stresses in fish elicit by microplastics ingestion in vivo and its consequences on development, reproduction and life history stages of fish.

Synopsis of the Project: Mahseer are popular freshwater cyprinid fishes easily distinguishable by relatively larger size of scales on their body compared to the other cyprinid fishes. The members of mahseer belong to three genera, viz., Tor, Neolissochilus and Nagiritor. These three genera are distinguished by the presence of a continuous labial groove in Tor  but interrupted in Neolissochilus, and 10–14 gill rakers on the lower arm of first gill arch in the former and 6–9 in the latter. They are mostly found in mountain streams and distributed in the range from Pakistan throughout Southern Asia to Southeast Asia up to the Malay Peninsula and the larger Indonesian islands across Sumatra, Borneo and Java. However, species composition within each genus varies in different locations, like Southeast Asian species are different from Southern Asian species. Furthermore, within India, many species of mahseer are discontinuously distributed and mostly endemic in the South, Central and Northeast India. Among the mahseer of the Indian subcontinent, Tor putitora is widely distributed in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan; while Neolissochilus hexagonolepisis distributed in Nepal, Bhutan, North India and Northeast (NE) India. Mahseers are popular sport fishes among anglers which provide them superlative thrills. They are highly sought-after because of great attraction to recreational anglers and are important components of the Angling-tourism pursuit. Mahseer is also considered as an integral component of the aquatic ecosystem, serves as an important indicator of its health and supports the livelihood of many rural and indigenous ethnic groups in Asia.  However, the important mahseer fishes are threatened in the NE India as well as other distribution areas due to the growing harvest pressure as well as anthropogenic effects. The two most threatened species, viz., Tor putitora and Neolissochilus hexagonolepis are regarded as the flagship species in NE India. The conservation of mahseer has been hampered because the taxonomy of mahseer is most confusing due to the morphological variations they exhibit that poised the understanding of actual species composition, distribution, autecology and biology at large.

The traditional taxonomy of mahseer in NE India has been facing several problems due to (1) lack of morphometric details in original description, (2) presence of very few holotypes of mahseer species, (3) indiscernible morphological nuances in them, and (4) disagreements in recognizing specific morphological characters. The mahseer species composition in the region is poorly understood. The taxonomy of a few mahseer species has been extremely chaotic and described severally.Genomic approaches of taxon diagnosis have been found to be resourceful to aid traditional taxonomy. In an attempt to address these issues through this proposed project the mahseer population of different rivers of North eastern Himalayan region will be characteriZed with the help of traditional taxonomic and molecular tools. 

Objectives of the programme are-

1.   To determine the mtDNA diversity within and in between mahseer species collected from various geographical locations of Central and Eastern Himalayan region of India.

2.   To find out the intraspecific population structure and gene flow pattern in populations of Tor and Neolissochilus.

3.   To resolve the species and stock dilemma of mahseer found in Central and Eastern Himalayan region of India.

4. Habitat mapping of mahseer resources through GIS platform to develop strategies for conservation and propagation.

Synopsis of the Project: Five Himalayan Research Fellowship Programmes are going on with the following thematic areas:

a) Systematic study of fish fauna: Systematic studies of Fish fauna of North Eastern Himalayan Region are scanty. Many rivers/hill streams of this region which harbour a lot of endemic fish species have not yet been studied. Through this fellowship programme an assessment of Ichthyofaunal biodiversity along with their molecular characterization of selected aquatic ecosystems (hill streams/rivers) of North Eastern Himalayan region is going on with an aim to create an inventory Ichthyofauna which will contribute towards formation of a Mountain Ichthyofaunal Biodiversity Database & Information System of North Eastern Himalayan Region which in turn contribute towards Establishment of a Mountain Fish Biodiversity Network of North Eastern Himalayan Region in association with Biodiversity Boards of respective North Eastern states

b) Ecosystem health:Most of the hill stream fishes harbouring river systems of Indian Himalayan Region have special habitat requirements for their growth, reproduction and survival. These fishes are specially adapted to utilize the unique hill stream environment. Fast flowing stream water current and presence of sand, pebbles, cobbles, rocks, boulders etc. on the stream bed are indispensable for growth, survival and reproduction of these fishes. But in recent years in some parts of the North Eastern Himalayan region anthropogenic activities like sand/boulder mining on the river beds, use of destructive fishing methods etc. are destroying many critical habitats which ultimately pose a great threat to the precious ichthyofaunal resources of these habitats. Through the on-going fellowship programme an evaluation/assessment of environmental health of selected critical river systems of North Eastern Himalayan region have been done with an aim to find out development approaches for ecosystem health restoration. It is also contributing towards habitat characterization of many hill stream fishes of North Eastern Himalayan region.

c) Promoting recovery of threatened species by involving state and institutional partners

Establishment of field based recovery models of threatened Himalayan species particularly in the degraded ecosystem across the IHR(Conservation Assessment and Management Plan -CAMP report, 1997 identified nine endemic fish species of North Eastern Himalayan region as most threatened. Through the fellowship programme some of the preliminary works are initiated for development of a field based recovery model of some of these identified fish species.