The doyen of freshwater fisheries studies, the late Prof MS Johal of Panjab University (PU), in his last years lamented the ebbing passion for field research. A section of the contemporary lot of zoology students shirk the rigours of the field by taking the easy way out: “Google fishing”, lab experiments and desktop manipulation of data.
At last week’s ceremony in Chandigarh to award the second Johal Memorial Award to distinguished fisheries scientist Prof BD Joshi, Johal’s colleagues and students of yore recounted his legendary field work that paved the way for international recognition.
A friend, philosopher and guide to a legion of students who went on to have successful careers of their own, Johal instilled self-reliance and nurtured their latent potential. He led from the front by wading into streams and turning over rocks to ascertain insect diversities that fish preyed upon. As a young lecturer in Ganganagar, Johal expended holidays to foray into obscure areas to research Rajasthan fishes.
“Johal worked with the Fisheries department on reservoirs. His diligent field studies helped us determine the size of net mesh to prevent fishermen from catching small fish yet to breed. Our joint efforts resulted in the annual catch growing three-fold. He braved musty rooms and bad food with a patient smile, saying that ‘when out for research nothing is bad, everything is great’,” recalled Dr Kuldeep Sharma, ex-director, fisheries, Himachal Pradesh.
“On our first field trip under Johal to study hill stream ecology, he ordered us to plunge in and catch fish with our hands. We failed, we students could not catch the agile fish with even a bucket. That was our first lesson: field work may seem easy but it is not. He then hired local fishermen for two days but only to train us on nets. After that, students were asked to do netting,” recounted Dr YK Rawal, PU’s zoology department head.
Former dean of students welfare, GNDU, Amritsar, Dr Anish Dua, landed at the varsity as a young lecturer in the 1990s and was disappointed to find no aquatic biology lab. “Johal cheered me up and suggested a substitute: make Harike wetland into a field lab. I commenced research with my students and our hard work was rewarded when we compiled a list of 61 Harike fish species. That drew international notice. Though Johal encouraged field work, Punjab varsities were just not assigning enough researchers to the unexplored wilderness. That is why it took decades after Independence to discover the Indus dolphin in the Beas,” Dua said.
Pavan guru, paani pita
The Guru Granth Saheb and allied scriptures are rich in references to ecological concerns. The prescient teachings call upon people to venerate the air, water, birds, fishes, trees etc and protect nature’s endowments for sustainable planetary life. However, symbolism has come to reign as the dominant God. Successive governments have been rocked by desecration of the scriptures (sacrilege) as such acts arouse anti-establishment ire.
The parallel destruction of the ecology — which the deified scriptures had deemed as sacred — finds limited public resonance. Despite entreaties to the people by the venerable Baba Seechewal, desecration of the ecosystem does not make the grade as an election issue. The ingrained lure of the quick buck leads to felling of trees, grabbing of green lands and mining of river banks. Greed blinds us to the true intentions of the scriptures that we bow our covered heads to in a ritualistic manner.
As a symbol of our countless self-destructive ways, contemplate upon the fate suffered by an owl clan in the godforsaken wilderness of Harike, a Ramsar site. Field researchers such as Jagdeep Singh (zoology department, Punjabi University, Patiala) observed unchecked sand mining, agricultural encroachment of floodplains and pollutant poisoning of the Beas/Satluj that deposited toxins/heavy metals in breeding birds and fishes. Amid a myriad of depressing spectacles, Singh would happily spot Indian eagle owls on a particular neem on the Beas.
“However, when I visited the site last, I found the soil had been removed and it had led to loosening of adjoining soil. The neem got dislodged and it fell in the Beas. The owls were forced to flee their favoured tree, which they had occupied for generations. Locals told me there were six owls a few years back but their numbers had declined drastically,” Singh told this writer.
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