Seasonal Catch Diversity of Marine Fishes in the Coastal Belt of Purba Medinipur District of West Bengal, India

Marine fish catch contributes an important role in economic activity and nutrition in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. This district contains a stretch of 65 km coastal line covering five maritime development blocks which play a significant role for fish production and employment generation in West Bengal. There are 42 fish landing centres (locally known as khoties) wherein mainly 1.2 lakh coastal fisher folk are directly or indirectly involved in the sector. Though 98,308 mt of marine fishes have been reported from the coast, 34,021 mt fishes contribute major part in the marine catch of this study area. The present study was undertaken to assess the seasonal catch diversity of major marine fishes for a period of three years from October (2003-04) to September (2005-06). The major marine fish species recorded in this coastal region are : Babla, Harpadon nehereus; Patia, Trichiurus sp; Tapra, Setipinna phasa; Chingri, Penaeid prawn; Kanta, Arius maculates; Pomfret, Pampus argentius; Bhola, Johnius sp; Ruli, Coilia dussumieria and Gogua, Acetes indicus, etc. Maximum catch were observed in the months of December and January for consecutive three study years and catch diversity of marine fish was also studied for the study period. Thus conservation of diversity of marine fish species is very much essential not only for biological aspects but also for long-term reliance on the marine resources of the coastal people.