Inland Fisheries

5.4.2.2 Pulicat Lake

It is the second largest brackishwater lagoon in India. It is located along the south-east coast of India between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Earlier, it had a water spread area of 461 km² with an average depth of about 1.5 m, but now it has shrunk to 350 km² with a depth of less than about one metre, chiefly due to siltation of the lagoon. Major portion of the lake is situated in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh and the rest in Thiruvallur district of Tamilnadu, where it is connected to the Bay of Bengal by a narrow mouth near the Pulicat village. The drainage area of the lake is 4,400 km² (more than 77,700 ha) and is highly productive giving an annual yield of about 1100 tonnes. There are three monsoonal rivulets that flow into the lagoon viz. Swarnamukhi, Kalangi and Arni. The Buckingham canal (East Coast Canal) flows through the Pulicat Lake at its southern end, near the Pulicat town. In addition to several mud-flats (some in the form of uninhabited islands), there are large islands viz. Sriharikota, Venaadu and Irukkam.