Inland Fisheries Resources of India PDF

Inland Fisheries Resources of India Inland fisheries resources of India India is a South Asian country situated between the Himalayas in the north and the Indian Ocean in the south and flanked on either side by Pakistan and Burma. India is a federal republic covers a total area of 3287728 km...

Inland Fisheries Resources of India Inland fisheries resources of India India is a South Asian country situated between the Himalayas in the north and the Indian Ocean in the south and flanked on either side by Pakistan and Burma. India is a federal republic covers a total area of 3287728 km2. India is a land of diversity. The climate ranges from tropical heat in the south to temperate in the north. The landscape includes towering mountains, extensive alluvial plains, riverine wetlands, plateaus, deserts, coastal plains and deltas. The major physiographic divisions are the Himalayas, the IndoGangetic plains, the Vindhyas, the Satpuras, the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats, coastal plains, deltas and the riverine wetlands. The inland fishery resources of the country comprise of the rivers and canals, reservoirs, tanks and ponds, estuaries, brackish water lakes, backwaters, floodplain lakes (oxbow lakes) etc. while the marine water bodies are mainly used for capture fisheries resources, the inland water bodies are widely used for culture and capture fisheries. Inland capture fisheries of India has an important place; it contributes to about 30% of the total fish production. The large network of inland water masses provides great potential for economic capture fishery.  India has a total water surface area of 3,14,400 sq. km. along with 8129 km coastline, 0.5 million km2 of continental shelf and 2.02 million km2 of exclusive Economic zone (EEZ, An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a sea zone prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from the coast of the state), with water resources in the form of numerous rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes, etc., and receives an average annual rainfall of 1,100 mm. A major part of the river stretches and canals are concentrated in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Much of the reservoir areas falls in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Tanks and ponds are concentrated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa. A large part of the area under flood plain lakes and derelict water bodies is found in Kerala, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Brackish water areas are concentrated in the maritime states of Orissa, Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and in the Union territory of Andman and Nicobar Islands. Total area under water bodies (excluding rivers and canals) is found to be maximum in Orissa, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, etc. in that order. There are several wetlands being shared with neighbouring countries too as in case of Ladakh and Sunder bans. The major river basins of the country are the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapti, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. Inland fisheries resources India's inland fisheries resources are as diverse as they are plentiful, comprising rivers, floodplains, estuaries, mangroves, reservoirs and ponds. In India, inland fisheries is classified as follows: freshwater aquaculture, including the pond culture of carp; brackishwater aquaculture, involving mostly shrimp culture; and capture fisheries in rivers, estuaries, lakes, reservoirs, etc. Inland Fisheries resources of India Resource Resource Rivers and canals 173,287 km Floodplain lakes 202,213 ha Freshwater ponds 2,254,000 ha  Reservoirs 3,153,366 ha Mangroves 356,500 ha Estuaries 285,000 ha Brackish water ponds 1235000 ha Swamps and other wetlands 1,097,787 ha Capture fisheries of natural waters Rivers There are a large number of rivers in the country which run into a total length of 45,000 km. These rivers fall under 113 river basins having a total catchment area of 3.12 million km2. There is a large network of perennial rivers, all of which are characterized by very large seasonal variations in their discharge due to seasonal rainfall and prolonged dry periods. The Indian mainland is drained by 15 major (drainage basin >20,000 km?), 45 medium (2,000 to 20,000 km2) and over 102 minor (