Inland Fisheries

Reservoir fisheries management in India

The present low level of fish production in Indian reservoirs can be attributed to inadequate management. In many of the reservoirs, the high rate of primary and secondary productivity is not channeled to fish production.

1. Management of medium and large reservoirs

Medium and large reservoirs are predominantly capture fisheries system and the management norms are based on the principle of stock manipulation, adjustment in fishing effort, observance of conservation measure and gear selectivity. In broad terms, management of medium and large reservoirs in India can be considered more akin to enhanced capture fisheries. Although many of them are stocked, their fisheries continue to depend to a large extent on the wild or naturalized fish stock.

i) Stock enhancement

Stocking attempts in medium and large reservoirs are successful only when the stocked fishes breed and propagate themselves.

ii) Species enhancement

It aims at augmenting the species range by adding fish species from outside with a view to colonize all the diverse niches of the biotope for harvesting sustainable crop.

2. Management of small reservoirs

The small reservoirs are generally managed as culture- based capture fisheries, akin to extensive aquaculture; where the main accent is on stocking, fattening and harvesting. The key management parameters of culture based fishery are species selection, stocking and environmental enhancement.

Statewise fish yield from reservoirs of India (in kg per ha)

States	Small	Medium	Large	Average
Tamil nadu	48.50	13.74	12.66	22.63
Uttar Pradesh	14.60	7.17	1.07	4.68
Andhra Pradesh	188.00	22.00	16.80	36.48
Maharashtra	21.09	11.83	9.28	10.21
Rajasthan	46.43	24.47	5.30	24.89
Kerala	53.50	4.80	-	23.37
Bihar	3.91	1.90	0.11	0.05
Madhya Pradesh	47.26	12.02	1.53	13.68
Himachal Pradesh	-	-	35.55	35.55
Orissa	25.85	12.76	7.62	9.72
Average	49.50	12.30	11.43	20.13