Author(s): Ajay VS, Krishnan AR and Sreekanth GB

Abstract: Vembanad Lake is the second largest brackishwater lake in India and is known for its rich biodiversity. The study investigates the fish diversity, fishing methods, seasonal variation in species distribution, gear wise fish catchand fishermen profile at Puthenvelikara backwaters of Vembanad Lake. A total of 45 sampling events using gillnets, cast nets, stake net, hook and line and dip nets from January 2020 to March 2021 yielded 2231 individuals of 54 finfish species and seven shellfish species from 34 families, 13 orders and 50 genera. Fish abundance peaked during pre-monsoon season, and the lowest values were recorded in post monsoon season. Out of 37.66% finfishes around 37.50% was from Etroplus suratensis followed by Mullets (31.90%), catfishes (15.40%), Ambassid sp. (5.60%), Scinaeid sp. (5.20%) and others (4.40%). While Among crustacean resources, Metapenaeus dobsoni constitute 62.13% to the fishery followed by Penaeus indicus (15.84%), Metapenaeus monoceros (11.00%), Macrobrachium idella (2.96%), Scylla serrata (2.64%), Macrobrachium rosenbergii (2.20%), Penaeus monodon (1.83%) and others (1.40%). About 70% of the fishermen residing in that area are active fishermen, while the remaining operate the gear occasionally viz., once in a week. Moreover, percentage gear wise catch composition was calculated and recorded. Based on the duration of fishing trips, the fishermen are categorized as 1) 3 to 6 hours (77%), 2) whole day (15%) and 3) trips of more than a day (8%). The aquatic weed, Eichhornia crassipes affects greatly the livelihood of fisherwomen who rely on the bivalve fishing activity. The proliferation of aquatic weeds such as Azolla pinnata and Nymphaea mexicana also impacted the fishing operations by entrapping inside the fishing gears, which increases the cost of fishing operations.

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