Diversity, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Fish Resources of Banganga Wetland, Uttarakhand, India

The Uttarakhand Forest Department has recently declared the Jhilmil Jheel as a Conservation Reserve. Therefore, conservation of near by Banganga wetland which is identified as a crucial habitat for swamp deer in Uttarakhand, becomes important. Since, baseline information about fishes occur in the Banganga is necessary to monitor their populations as well as habitats. Extensive surveys of fish fauna were carried out between February and June 2006. Since the February is the peak period of fishing, majority of the sample collection was done during this period to prepare a checklist of fish species which occur in the Baanganga. A total of 40 species of fishes were recorded during the survey period. Most of them were commercially important and many species were assessed as threatened. Various recommendations for the conservation and sustainable utilization of fish biodiversity of this wetland are discussed in this paper.