Inland Fisheries

Estuaries of the East Coast

1) The Hooghly-Matlah estuary

The Hooghly-Matlah estuary, which is located within the State of West Bengal, occupies the marshy deltaic area called the Sunderbans. Sunderbans at the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta are regarded as the largest single mangrove jungle of the world transcending the political boundaries of India and Bangladesh and occupying a total of 10,000 km². The portion falling in India occupies over 4,170 km² (23,400 ha). The total approximate area of Sunderbans estuarine waters is 2,340 km². The main Hooghly estuary is a positive estuary. It has an approximately triangular wide mouth and, probably, due to the strong scouring action of the stream as well as tidal currents, a greater overall circulation is maintained. The tidal influence can be realised up to a distance of 290 km from the sea.

Fish and Fisheries

Among the estuaries of India, Hooghly-Matlah estuarine system provides one of the richest grounds for fishery in India. About 130 species of fishes and 30 species of prawns and crabs are found in the commercial catches obtained from the Sunderbans area. Nearly 16,000 fishermen live in different zones of the estuary, and fishing activity goes on intensively throughout the year and the total annual catch amounts to 20,000 – 26,0000 tonnes.The fish fauna of the Hooghly-Matlah is classified into residents and transients or migrants.