DESTRUCTION OF MAJOR CARP FINGERLINGS IN A SECTION OF RIVER GANGA AND ITS PROBABLE ADVERSE EFFECTS ON FISH PRODUCTION

Abstract

Almost every year, towards the beginning of autumn when the floods
commence to subside, the fingerlings of major carps form a sizeable riverine
fishery in North India. This fishery is generally of a brief duration and
often lasts for as short a time-span as 10 to 14 days, but it is extensive and
is practised so intensely that for a few days the riverine catches consist
almost exclusively of carp fingerlings. The types of areas fished comprise
small creeks, rivulets, and fields inundated during the rains. The receding
flood waters in autumn, in such habitats, leave the fingerUngs of carps stranded
in shallows, rendering them an easy prey to fishermen, who capture them
in great quantities.