A NEW SIZE RECORD OF HILSA, TENUALOSA ILISHA (HAM., 1822) FROM HOOGHLY ESTUARY, WEST BENGAL
213 / 3
Authors
-
K. M. SANDHYA
-
SAJINA A. M.
-
V. R. SURESH
-
R. K. MANNA
-
B. K. BEHERA
-
J. MUKHERJEE
-
S. K. BANIK
-
S. KAR
-
M. K. MUKHOPADHYAY
Abstract
The Hilsa shad, Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822), occurs in foreshore areas, estuaries, brackish-water lakes and freshwater rivers of the western division of the Indo-Pacific region. It is well known as a delicious, high priced fish of commercial and cultural importance, especially in state of West Bengal and the North Eastern states of India as well as Bangladesh. Along the Indian coast of Bay of Bengal, the Hooghly estuarine system is one of the largest and most productive estuaries and is an important migratory route of the anadromous hilsa. The estuarine system is constituted by the first offshoot of river Gangathe Bhagirathi, which flows southwards through the lower Ganga deltaic plains and joins Bay of Bengal in Sunderbans. Hilsa shad is the most economically significant fishery of the system and it is a major contributor to the total fish landings of this system. Hydrological alterations in the form of barrages and dams built across the major east and west coast rivers, especially along the Ganges and Narmada have blocked its migratory routes to breeding grounds in riverine areas, resulting in the collapse of its fishery in the river stretches above these barrages and as a result, hilsa landing is now concentrated in estuarine part of these rivers (Raja, 1985; De, 1998). After commissioning of the Farakka barrage in 1975, the hilsa fishery is confined to downstream of the barrage, the Hooghly-Bhagirathi system. The indiscriminate exploitation of hilsa adults as well as juveniles during the past years has caused the decline of the once lucrative commercial fisheries of the fish, more particularly along the Hooghly estuary, due to recruitment failure. The comparison of time scale mean size recorded from Hooghly-Bhagirathi river system over past years indicated a declining trend and an increasing contribution of smaller size groups in the catch pointing towards the growth overfishing of hilsa populations. The aim of this paper represents a new record size of hilsa with record fecundity from Hooghly estuarine systemReferences
Al-Baz, A. F., Grove D. I. 1995. Population Biology of Sbour Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton-Buchanan) in Kuwait. Asian Fisheries Science, 8: 239-254.
Amin, S. M. N., Rahman, M. A., Haldar G. C., Mazid, M. A., Milton, D. 2002. Population dynamics and stock assessment of hilsa shad, Tenualosa ilisha in Bangladesh. Asian Fisheries Science, 15: 123-128.
Bhaumik, U. and Sharma, A. P., 2012. Recent status of hilsa in Hooghly-Bhagirathi river. Bull. 179. Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, India. 42 p.
Bhaumik, U., Mukhopadhyay, M. K., Shrivastava, N. P., Sharma, A. P. 2015. The largest recorded Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) in India- from Tapti estuary, Gujarat. Fishing chimes, 31(12): 57-58.
Bhuyian, N. and Talbot, G. B. 1968. Fluvial migration, spawning, and fecundity of Indus river hilsa, Hilsa ilisha. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 97(4): 350-355. 10.1577/1548-8659(1968)97 [350:FMSAFO]2.0.CO;2
Bagenal, T. 1978. Methods for assessment of fish production in freshwaters. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London. 75-102.
Bagenal, T. B. and Braum, E. 1978. Eggs and Early Life History. pp165-210. In: Bagenal, T. (ed.) Methods for Assessment of Fish Production in Fresh Waters. IBP Handbook No:3, Blackwell, Oxford.
Birkeland, C. and Dayton, P. K. 2005. The importance in fishery management of leaving the big ones. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20 (7): 356-358. doi:10.1016/ j.tree.2005.03.015
Buckley, L. J., Smigielski, A. S., Halavik, T. A., Calderone, E. M., Burns, B. R. and Laurence G. C.1991. Winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus reproductive success. II Effects of spawning time and female size on size, composition and viability of eggs and larvae. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 74: 125-135.
Chambers, R. C., Leggett, W.C. and Brown, J. A. 1989. Egg size, female effects, and the correlations between early life history traits: an appraisal at the individual level. Fisheries Bulletin, 87: 515-523.
De, D. K. 1998. Hydrological changes, fish population trends and production potential of Hooghly estuarine ecosystem with special emphasis of hilsa. Bull. 83.
Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, India: 83-89.
De, D. K. and Datta, N. C. 1990. Age, Growth, LengthWeight Relationship and Relative Condition in Hilsa, Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton) from the Hooghly Estuarine system. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 37 (3): 199 - 209.
De, D. K. and Sen, P. R. 1986. Observations on the embryonic and early larval development of Indian shad, Tenualosa ilisha (Ham.). J. Inland Fish. Soc. India, 18(2): 1-12.
Khan, M. A., Kumar, D. and Sinha, R. 2001. On some biological aspects of Hilsa (Tenualosa) ilisha (HamiltonBuchanan) from Hooghly estuary. J. Inland Fish. Soc. India, 33(1): 38-44.
Mohamed, A. R. M., Ali, T. S. and Hussain, N. A. 2001. Stock assessment of Hilsa shad Tenualosa ilisha in the Iraqi marine waters, northwest Arabian Gulf. Marina Mesopotamica, 16(1): 1-9.
Olsen, E. M., Heino, M., Lilly, G. R., Morgan, M. J., John, B., Ernande, B. and Dieckmann U. 2004. Maturation trends indicative of rapid evolution preceded the collapse of northern cod. Nature, 428: 932-935
Pillay, S. R. 1964. Maturation and spawning of the hilsa, Hilsa ilisha (Hamilton), of the Saurashtra coast, pp 8-14. In Proceedings of National Institute of Science, Section (B), 30 (1), India.
Pillay, S. R. and Rao, K.V. 1963.Observation on the biology and fishery of hilsa, Hilsa ilisha (Hamilton) of river Godavari, pp 37-61. In Proceedings of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council, 10 (2).
Pillay, T.V.R. 1955. Biology of the Hilsa, Hilsa ilisha (Hamilton) -A review, pp 211-219. In Proceedings of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council 6
Raja, B.T.A. 1985. A review of the Biology and Fisheries of Hilsa ilisha in the upper Bay of Bengal. BOBP/WP/ 37. p. 53.
Rajyalakshmi, T. 1973. The population characteristics of the Godavari hilsa over the years 1963-67. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 20 (1): 78-94.
Roshith, C. M., Sharma, A. P., Manna, R. K., Satpathy, B. B. and Bhaumik, U. 2013. Ichthyofaunal diversity, assemblage structure and seasonal dynamics in the freshwater tidal stretch of Hooghly estuary along the Gangetic delta. Aquatic Ecosystem Health Management,
(4): 445-453. DOI: 10.1080/14634988.2013. 163 857561
Talwar, P. K. and Jhingran, A. G. 1991. Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Vol. 1. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, India, 541p.
Whitehead, P. J. P. 1974. Clupeidae. In: Species Identification Guide. Eastern Indian Ocean - Fishing Area 57 and Western Central Pacific - Fishing Area 71, Vol.I. Fischer, W and Whitehead, P. J. P (Eds) FAO,
Rome:176-177.
Zastrow, C. E., Houde, E. D. and Saunders, E. H. 1989. Quality of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) eggs in relation to river source and female weight. Rapports et Proces-Verbaux des Réunions Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, 34-42.
Downloads
Submitted
Published
Issue
Section
License
In case of publication of the article in the journal, author(s) are required to assign copyright to the Journal of the Inland Fisheries Society of India for its publication in any form/language including all media (print and electronic, or presently unknown), and exclusive right to use the matter for the life of the work (no time restriction on re use of matter).