HOW TO REDUCE IMPACT OF PESTICIDES IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

Aquatic animals and aquatic resources are valuable natural assets. Aquatic animals give higher productivity and protein yield as compared to agriculture or animal husbandry and have less energy expenditure for food production. Besides protein, fish flesh contains sufficient quantity of vitamins and minerals, which are essential for growth. Aquatic animals enhance national economy and provide financial benefits by employment, profit and money savings. Sea food industry provides jobs for commercial fishers, wholesaler and retailors.

The rapidly increasing use of pesticides in agriculture, poses serious danger, both to the public health, fisheries and aquatic ecosystem. Pesticides enter in aquatic ecosystem causes undesirable loss in the form of pathology or mortality of aquatic animals, which causes decline of aquatic micro-organisms, fish and other aquatic species, like prawns, frogs, turtles, muscles, water birds etc. These aquatic animals are main source of natural food chains. If flesh of these insecticides accumulated animals, eaten by other animals and by men, are also affected by these pesticides.

Pesticides must be used with great care, so that the health of humans, animals and the environment are protected. Disadvantages of pesticides include their toxicity to some humans, animals and useful plants, and the persistence (long life) of some of these chemicals in the environment, which causes serious hazard both to the public health and the environment.