Riverine fisheries of India
The riverine fisheries are a part of inland fisheries
where the fishes are captured directly from the
different river systems with the help of scientifically
made fish crafts and gears. The riverine fishery
resources in India are immense as large number of
productive riverine system is present in this country.
The river system of the country has a total length of
about 45,000km, which includes 14 major rivers, 44
medium rivers and innumerable small rivers and
streams. The river system in India mainly constitute
of five river systems, namely the Ganga river system,
the Brahmaputra river system, the Indus river
system, the peninsular East coast river system and
the West Coast river system.
The Ganga River System:
It is the largest river system in India. The Ganges is a
perennial river, originating from the Gangotri near
Himalayas, enters the plains at Hardwar, passes
through the states of U.P., Bihar and West Bengal
and ultimately joins the Bay of Bengal. The principal
tributaries are rivers Ramganga, Gomati, Ghaghra,
Gandak, Kosi, Yamuna (with Chambal, Betwa and
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Keno) and Tons and Sons. All this amounts a
catchment area of about 9.72 lakhs sq. km.
The fishery of this system consists of the following
species
Major carps: Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo rohita, Labeo
calbasu, Catla catla.
Other carps: Labeo bata, L. dero, Cirrhinus reba.
Cat fishes: Mystus oar, Mystus seenghala, Wallago
attu, Rira rita, Clarias batrachus, Heteropneustes
fossilis etc
Clupeids: Hilsa ilisha, Gadusia chapra
Others: Notopterus chitala, N. notopterus, Anguilla
bengalenesis, Channa punctatus, Channa marulius, C.
gachua, Channa striatus, Anabas etc.
Prawns: Machrobranchium macolmsonii, Palaemon
sps.
Gears used to catach fishes: Dipnet, cast net, purse
net, drag net, drift net, trawl net, bag net, long lines
with hooks and small trap nets.
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The Brahmaputra River System:
This river system originates from glacier mass near
Mansarower Lake, crosses through Tibet (where it is
called Tsangpo), Arunachal, Assam, and Bangladesh
joins the Ganga at Goalundo. The Brahmputra and
the Ganga after their merger is known as Padma in
Bangladesh joins the Bay of Bengal through Meghna
estuary. There is large number of its tributaries in
Assam and this river system cover a total catchment
area of about 2,900 sq. km. The important fishes of
this system are
Carps: Cirrhinus reba, C. mrigala, Catla catla, Labeo
rohita, L. dyocheelius, Labeo gonius,puntius sarana,
P. sophore, P. chola, P. ticto, Barilius bola, B. barila,
Danio rerio, Aspidoparia morar, Tor putitora.
Catfish: Wallago attu, Mystus senghala, M. oar, M.
bleekeri, M. menoda, Bagarius bagarius, Pangasius
pangasius, Clarius batrachus, Heteropneustes
fossilis, Rita rita, Eutropiichthys vacha.
Miscellenous spp.: Channa marulius, C. gachua, C.
striatus, Mastacembelus armatus, Hilsa ilisha,
Notopterus notopterus, Chela laubuca, Ambasis
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nama, Badius badius, Esomusdanricus, Colis fasciata,
Macrognathus aculeatum, Tetradon cutcutia,
Crafts and Gears used to catch fishes: Both
mechanized and non mechanized crafts are used. The
gears are dragnet, gill net, bag net, purse net, cast
net, dip net, trawl net, hooks and lines etc.
The Indus River System:
The Indus rises about 100 Km. North of Mansarowar
and flows North West through Tibet before entering
Kashmir. After flowing for about 800 km. it turns
south through the Ladakh range. It enters Pakistan
through Kashmir. It has five tributaries on its left
bank, namely, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and
Sutlej. It has not been possible to estimate the
amount of commercial production from this river
system. The fishes are of mixed type and it includes
Schizothoraichthyes esocinus, Schizothorax
richardsonii, S. micropogon, Cyprinus carpio, Labeo
dero, Crossochelius latius diplochilus, salmo trutta
fario, Glyptosternum reticulatum, Noemachelis
gracilis (from river Jhelum). Wallago attu, Clarius
batrachus, Heteropneutses fossilis, Mystus
seenghala, M. vittatus, Rita rita, Eutropiichthys
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vacha, Nandus nandus, Notopterus chitala, N.
notopterus, Puntius ticto, P. chola, P. conchonius,
Esomus dranicus, Chela laubuca etc (from sutlej).
The East Coast System:
It constitutes of three major rivers (the Godavari, the
Krishna and the Cauvery). Godavari originates from
Deolali hills in Northern Western Ghat and
terminates in Bay of Bengal. It has a total catchment
area of 315 980 sq km. The river Krishna originates
in the western ghat, ranges south of Poona to its
delta on the east coast. It has a catchment area of
about 233,229 sq. km. River Cauvery originates from
the Brahmagin Hills on the western ghat, flows in
south easterly direction and terminates in Bay of
Bengal at Tamil Nadu.
The main fishes of Godavri and Krishna are Labeo
fimbriatus, Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo calbasu, Catla
catla, Mystus oar, Mystus seenghala, Silomia
childreni, Pangasius pangasius, Wallago attu, Hilsa
ilisha etc. Cauvery has some special features in fish
fauna. It consists of Acrossocheilus hexagonelopis,
Tor putitora, Barbus carnaticus, Barbus dubias,
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Labeo kontius, Labeo oriza, Osteochilus brevidorsalis,
Osteochilus nashi etc.
Gears used to catch fishes: Drift gill net, drag net,
cast net etc.
The Western Coast River System
It has two important rivers namely Narmada and
Tapti. The Narmada originates in the Amarkantak
Hills, Madhya Pradesh and terminates in the Gulf of
Cambay after crossing Gujarat state. The catchment
area is about C. 94,235 sq. km. Tor tor forms the bulk
of fish produced from this river. Besides this Labeo
fimbriatus, Labeo calbasu, cirrhinus mrigala, Puntius
sarana, Cirrhinus reba, Rita pavimentata, Mystus
seenghala, Clupisoma garua, Ompak bimaculatus,
Notopterus notopterus etc.
River Tapti has its origin in Mount Vindhya crosses
through Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujrat
and ultimately join the Arabian Sea at Dumas near
Surat. It has a catchment area of about C. 48,000 sq.
km. Fishes are Tor tor, Labeo fimbriatus, Labeo
calbasu, Labeo bata, Labeo boggut, Mystus oar,
Mystus seenghala etc.
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Gears used to catch fishes: Cast net, gill net, long
lines.
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