Inland Fisheries

6.2.8 Beel fisheries in West Bengal

Floodplain wetlands of West Bengal, Gangetic West Bengal represents the deltaic reaches of river Ganga, its tributaries and distributaries, where the river course passes through alluvial plains of a very low gradient, resulting in extensive changes in floodplain configuration. The state has more than 150 beels covering an area of 42000 hectares and constituting 22 per cent of the total freshwater area of the state. Fish potential of West Bengal beels indicated poor to moderate status from 43.8-320 kg/ha/yr. Based on selected studies made by CIFRI, the fish yield varied from 0.6 to 1.6 tonnes/ha. Thus, the beels are an important natural resource playing vital role in the fisheries, rural economy and environment of the state.