DIFFERENT FISHERY RESOURCES - Lockdown Study Material

DIFFERENT FISHERY RESOURCES

A.   Fishes are primarily aquatic
organisms living in different types of water bodies.  Fish living in freshwater bodies like rivers,
streams, reservoirs, lakes, ponds and tanks constitute inland fish.  Those organisms that live in estuarine
regions (the region where river meets the sea)are called brackish water
organisms.  Those live in seas are
referred as marine.   The commercially
important organisms like fish, crustaceans, molluscs that live in these three
types of water bodies constitute Inland/Freshwater
Fisheries, Brackish water Fisheries and marine fisheries.

Inland/Freshwater Fishery resources of India

Inland Fishery Resources in India are very rich.  About 30% of total fish production of India
is contributed by Inland Fishery. India's fresh water resources consist of
195,210 kilometers of rivers and canals, 2.9 million hectares of minor and major reservoirs,
2.4 million hectares of ponds and lakes

The major Fresh water inland water bodies are the Ganges System,
Brahmaputra System of Northern part of India - 
Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery, Narmada, Tapti river systems of
southern part.

River Ganga: Ganga originates
in Himalayan region and extends over 12500 km length and with an estimated 97.6
million hectars area suitable for fishing. 
The fishes like Labeo rohita, Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigila, Hilsa
ilisha, Wallago attu, Notopterus chitala are some important species that are
harvested from Ganga

River Brahmaputra: It is about
4,023km in length with 51 million hectares catchment area.  It has rich fish fauna.  Wallago attu, Labeo rohita, Mystus rita,
Puntius sarana, Notopterus chitala, Cirrhinus mrigila are some of the fish that
are found in Brahmaputra

River Narmada: The length of
the river is 1280 km, The effective catchments area of this river system is
94235 sq. km and 6330 sq. km of its all tributaries.

The carp fish groups are Labeo
frimbriatus, L.calabasu, L.bata,
Cirrhinus
reba, Puntius sarana etc, cat fish groups such as Mystus
senghala, M. cavasius, Wallago attu, Clupisoma garua,
other fish groups like Tor tor; Channa spp,
Mastacembalus
spp; Notopterus
notopterus etc.

River Cauvery : This river has
a length of 800 km with  catchment area
of 4,70000 sq km.

The fishes like Tor. Putitora, Barbus  dubius, Labeo kontius, Cirrhinus cirhosa, Mystus seenghala, Pangasius pangasius,
Wallago attu,
carps such as Catla
catla; Labeo rohita; Cirrhinus mrigala and the exotic species Cyprinus carpio and Osphronemus goramy
&  game fish like Tor khudri and T mussullah are  
also found in Cauvery.

Tapti River:This river is with a total length of 720 km and  a total catchments area of 48,000 sq.km. The
main fisheries of this river system are Tor tor, Mystus seenghala,
Wallago attu, Labeo calabasu, Labeo fimbriata, Cirrhinus mrigala, Channa spp
etc

Inland resources of Andhra Pradesh

River Godavari: Its length is
1465 km and has a total catchments area of over 315,980 sqkm. The fishes
available are – Labeo rohita, L. calabasu, L. fimbriatus, Catla catla, Cirhinus
mirigala, Mystes singhaal, Wallago attu, Hilsa ilaisha, Bangarius
bagarius,  Macrobrachium rosenbergii etc.
During monsoon months Hilsa fishery contributes much to the economy of this
region.

River Krishna: It has a
length of 1401km with a  total catchment
area of 2,33,229 sq km. The Fish fauna of Krishna river resembels the Godavari
river systems.

River Penna: Its length is
600 km. In summer it dries up. Some carp and other cat fishes are found in it.