Catch Estimation Methodology for Inland Water Bodies

Abstract

Inland fisheries concern activities to harvesting fish from ‘inland waters’. The terminology ‘inland waters’ mainly refers to freshwater systems; many areas are, however, classified as ‘inland waters’ which have daily or seasonal fluctuations in salinity—for example, estuaries, deltas, coastal lagoons, and creeks; some areas are permanently brackish water (coastal lagoons) or even hypersaline (creek). Besides marine waters, India is endowed with all types of water bodies mentioned above. Thereby, to distinguish between marine and ‘inland waters’ in the Indian context, ‘inland waters’ includes lakes, floodplain wetlands, rivers, estuaries, reservoirs, streams, ponds, irrigation tanks, canals, coastal lagoons, creeks, brackish water lagoons, and other land-locked waters—usually freshwaters. In India, fisheries in ‘inland waters’ comprise mainly two kinds: capture and culture. Capture fisheries refer to harvesting fish from open waters like rivers, estuaries, wetlands, creeks, and lagoons. The culture fisheries refer to harvesting fishes that are grown under confinement. In addition, there exist mixed fisheries consisting of both capture and culture. For instance, there are reservoirs wherein a portion is used for cage culture, and the rest is left for capture fisheries. A similar kind of mixed fisheries also exists in some wetlands in India.