Bulletin No.49

The Hooghly Estuary with its deltaic region spanning across about 0.8 million ha in the Bay of Bengal is perhaps the largest estuarine system of the world and forms the mainstay of the capture fisheries of India. It sustains a major multispecies commercial fishery providing a source of livelihood to about 25,000 to 30,000 fishermen and a flourishing trade. A variety of gears and tackles are operated round the year in different parts of the estuary for commercial exploitation. These gears are so varied that for a single gear there may be several modifications in shape and size. These modifications are often made conside-ring the fishery of a particular species. An under--standing of the fishing gears and tackles is extremely essential fdr estimating the extent and fluctuatlons in the population of the multispecies fishery and the dis-tributi 0n oft he spe c t esin spa c e and time t n the Hooghly Estuarine System. An inventory of the fishing gears and tackles, currently being operated in ths freshwater zones of the Hooghly estuary, was carried out by the Institute during April 1982 to October 1983. Socio-economic aspects of the fishing communities, their holdings in terms of gears, boats and other fishing. implements were also taken into account for the census. The findings of the survey are embodied in this bulletin. It is hoped that these results will prove very useful for the fishery scientists in determining the level of exploitation in view of the changing fishing patterns in the Hooghly Estuarine System. A.G. Jh in qr an j'~·3€+ Di rec to