Been fishery in india

1. Beel fisheries in West Bengal
Floodplain wetlands of West Bengal, Gangetic West Bengal represents the deltaic reaches of river
Ganga, its tributaries and distributaries, where the river course passes through alluvial plains of a
very low gradient, resulting in extensive changes in floodplain configuration. The state has more
than 150 beels covering an area of 42000 hectares and constituting 22 per cent of the total
freshwater area of the state. Fish potential of West Bengal beels indicated poor to moderate status
from 43.8-320 kg/ha/yr. Based on selected studies made by CIFRI, the fish yield varied from 0.6 to
1.6 tonnes/ha. Thus, the beels are an important natural resource playing vital role in the fisheries,
rural economy and environment of the state.
BEELS >Thereis about 2.0 lakh acres of beelsand baorsin West Bengal', argued Saha by theseventies
of thelast century.Butmorerecently, thestatehas at its command more than 150 beelscovering an
area of 42,000 hectares and constituting22% of the total freshwater area of the State. Sothe beelsare
an important naturalresourceof water, playing a vital role in the fisheries.
State. Distribution. River basins Local name. Area(ha).
West Bengal. 24 Paraganas,
Hoogly, Nodia,
Murshidabad, Malda,
Cooch bihar,
Burdman, Dinajpur,
Midnapur
Hoogly, Ichhamati,
Bhagirati, Churni,
Kalindi, Jalangi,
Torsha, Mahananda
etc.
Beel , charha&baor 42,500
Source: Ecology and Fisheries of Beels of West Bengal, Bull. No. I 03, Nov, 2000, Central InlandCapture Fisheries
Research Institute, Barrackpore, pp. 1-8.
The Report of the Department of Fisheries has however recorded the area 41, 781.65 ha and the
resource area under culture is 51.21%.
 According to riverine connection the beelscan be classified into two:
Closedbeels:Thesearecompletely cut off from the nearby rivers and receive water from the catchment
areas during high flood.
Openbeels:Theseremain in continuity with the parent river either for the whole of the year or at least
during therairty season.But Saha says, as a result of years' negligence those connections have been
badly silted up resulting in formation of closed swamps, infested with dense submerged, rooted and
floating vegetations.
 Again, it may be classified based on the extent of macrophyte infestation.
Weed choked beels:When more than 50% of the total water spread area is covered by aquatic
macrophytes then the hilcan be considered as weed choked.

2. Moderately weed infested beels:A hilcan be considered as moderately weed infested when less than 50% of
the total water area is covered by aquatic macrophytes.
Distribution of surveyed Beelsin West Bengal
Source: Central Inland Capture Fisheries Research Institute, Bull. No. 103, p. 9.
BeelFishery:
Distr Beel Area(ha) Depth(m) Type of beel Macrophyte
infestation level
Fish yield(Kg/ha/yr) Fishery
information
Hoogly Dekole 117.6 1.0-1.8 Closed, lake
like
Weed choked 13-36 Capture fishery,
closed season
(Jan-April)
Kol 81.6 1.5-3.5 Open,
braided
channel
Moderate 147 Capture fishery
Midnapur Sarasanka 24.0 0.2-1.8 Closed, lake
like
Weed choked 250-292 Stocking, IMC
24
Paraganas
Akaipur 32.0 4.5-12.6 Closed,
oxbow lake
Low 406-969 Liming,stocking,
catch quota
fixed(5Kg/day),
closed
season(March-
May)
Gopalpur 131.0 0.3-1.8 Closed Low 420-771 Stocking,IMC,
catch quota
15Kg/day
Garapota 122.0 2.0-8.5 Open, oxbow
lake
Moderate 332-617 Stocking, IMC
Source: Central Inland Capture Fisheries Research Institute, Bull. No. 103, p. 11.
In olden days, thesebeelsused to get spawn and fry from naturalsources duringflood through
their connecting links and functioned likecapturefisheries. At present, such a scope seldom exists; so
they are as good as tank fisheries. Therefore, scopefor their development seems to be limited.
Parameters. 24 Parganas (North) Hooghly.
Number of Beels 24 6
Range of effective area of individual beels(ha) 12-600 3-7.5
Range of maximum depth of beels(m) 3.5-8.5 1.85-3.60
Drainage(D)/ Non Drainage(ND) type Mainly ND Mainly ND
Connected river Ichhamati Hoogly
Total water spread area(ha) 1,742 174

3. Encroachment of beelarea for agriculturepurposes or conversion of beelmarginalintopaddy
fields have destroyed thebreeding ground of many resident fauna leading to failureof their
recruitment.
On the other hand, plant nutrients and pesticides used in agriculturallands are
regularlywashed intonearby beelby surfacerun-off or floodwaters. Pesticides causesevere pollution
and problem by outrightfish kills or by entering intothefood chain, whilenutrients cause
eutrophication over a period of time. Continuous flushinghelps in removing plant nutrients and
other pollutants in open beelsthereby reducing theseverity of pollution problems. This pollution
reduces productivity and fish yield.
About the advantages of reclaiming theconnectinglinks of the beelsSaha argues, that forthe
development of these resources, theexisting Act should beamended or new Act promulgatedtobring
all such connecting links underGovernmentcontrol. It should help thefisheries and fish production
in thefollowing ways-
(a) Prevent over flooding of the fisheries during heavy rains;
(b) Allow spawn and fry from naturalsourcetocome in and thereby reducethecost on
artificialstockingtoa considerableextent;
(c) Reducethe chances of inundationof the agriculturallands, adjacenttothefishery areas
during heavy rains;
(d) Reduce toxic hazards of jutesteeping in the fishery areas by periodicalin andout-flushing;
(e) Controlthegrowth of undesirableaquatic weeds; and
(f) Retard the rateof siltation.
The vested areas have already been developed by the Government sofar under directfarming
project, but theundemarcated and undefined boundaries of thevested areas,almost in all cases, there
were clashes and disputes with local agriculturists whoundertook unauthorized cultivationon the
marginallands of thewater areas duringsummer. Moreover, siltation created troublein smooth
working of Government farms andit is arguably necessary totakeover possession after clear
demarcation of theirboundaries.
To remedy the situation it has been suggested by recent study of 1960s that beelsareasshould
be reclaimed by the Government direct and then leased out to fishermen's cooperativeson
economicrent for fish cultivation, if necessary, keeping themarketingresponsibilities with a
Government sponsored districtmarketing organizationbyprovidingit with transport,storageand
other essentialfacilities. Cold storage should alsobe set up at district level for operation by an apex

4. body if the catch position in a particulardistrictsodemands. In every potentialsubdivision, however,
thereshould be a
Government seed production- cum-demonstrationfarmwith a small-attachedlaboratoryfor
production and distributionof quality fish- seeds to fishery co-operatives and fishfarmersat
reasonablecost as well as to demonstratetheimproved techniqueofpiscicultureand better return
therefrom. Thereshould also be training facilities of theintending fish farmers and arrangements for
water and soil studies.
Under theThird Plan, steps had already been taken by Government toproceed in the above
lines and more than 42 fish farms and seed farms have been set up by Governmentat different
districts up to theyear 1964 by reclaiming derelict beelareas and tidalswamps.It might havebeen
possible to cover up almost all thesubdivisions by this time withGovernment farms had therebeen
suitableState- owned areas available in time andGovernmentcould haveadopted the policy of direct
farming earlier. TheStateFisheriesAgency initiated thefirst proposalon direct farming with the
Cooch Bihar town tanks asearly as in 1952. But thesame did not receivethe approvalof the
authority on thegroundthat theStateFisheries Agency in consonancewith its policy should function
in atechnicaladvisory capacity only without involving itself in any sort of commercialorsemi
commercialventure. Subsequently, however, when some of the beelsand boarshadvested in theState
as a result of promulgation of theEstate Acquisition Act, theState Fisheries Agency again moved to
get some such areas under its possession for creating abufferstock. But theRevenueDepartment was
not found agreeableat the initialstagetopart with any of its vested areas on various technical
grounds. Ultimately, however, thepolicy was agreed upon and the StateFisheries Agencies got some
such areas only in1960tostart with its direct farming project.