Reservoir fisheries of India
The existing literature on limnology and fisheries of Indian reservoirs has been reviewed by covering more than 100 reservoirs located in various parts of the country. An assessment of environment-mediated production functions of reservoirs has been attempted. Since the ecosystem processes in reservoirs belonging to different geo-climatic regions exhibit wide variations depending on meteorological, morphometric and hydro-edaphic features of the impoundments, an effort has been made to gauge the influence of these abiotic variables on the production dynamics. Authentic information on water areas under different categories of reservoirs has been collected and interpreted in respect of all the Indian States. An attempt has also been made to resolve the anomalies pertaining to classification and nomenclature to the extent possible. Various fisheries management norms followed in the reservoirs of the country including the selection of species for stocking, stocking rate and introduction of exotic species have been reviewed. Indian reservoirs have been stocked with the Indo-Gangetic carps for many decades and the impact of this stocking has been assessed in terms of fish production and the indigenous faunistic diversity. Different modes of exploitation and the types of craft and gear employed in different reservoirs of the country are discussed. The reservoir fisheries resources and their utilization are dealt with separately in respect of each State along with a few case studies describing the water quality, biotic communities, craft and gear, and fisheries management practices followed. The status of reservoir fisheries in the States has been reviewed and the factors responsible for the slow rate of development identified.