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7343017 
Meetings & Symposia 
Poster 
Winter migratory bag net fishery of Hooghly-Matlah estuary, west Bengal: An overview 
Bhakta, D; Das, S; Talagunda Srinivasan, N; Behera, S; Chirwatkar, BB; Das, A; Samanta, R 
2018 
English 
The Hooghly-Matlah estuarine system is the largest (8029 km2) and most productive estuarine systems in the country covering a distance of about 295 km from the sea face and supporting a large scale of the fishery. Winter migratory bag net locally called as ‘been jal’ is the main fishing gears of Hooghly-Matlah estuary system and operates late October to early February. During the 3-4 months fishing period fishermen with their respective bag net and fishing boats migrates from different estuarine areas and established fishing camps in the different islands. The bag net is mainly operated within 250 km tidal stretch from Tribeni to Fraserganj where the water current is strong enough to set the net. A total 6248 migrant fishermen, 1629 bag net and 565 boats operated during the year 1996-97 against 3729 fishermen, 747 bag net and 347 boats in the year 1984-85. Around 90% fish catch from Hooghly-Matlah estuary comes from the high saline zone and more than 70% fish comes from winter bag net fishery. The winter bag net catch composition mainly comprised of small size fishes and dominant species or groups are Harpodon nehereus, Otolithoides pama, Setipinna spp., Trichiurus spp., prawns, Coilia spp., Arius spp., Polynemus paradiseus, Pampus argenteus, Eleutheronema tetradactylum etc. The bulk of the catches from bag net are sun-dried and exported to nearby marketing centers, rest are freshly consumed. The total estimated bag net fishery was fluctuated between 19639.5 t during 1984-1985, 20820.6 t during 1994-1995 and 35844.6 t during 1999-2000 with their respective CPUE was 130.44 kg, 93.72 kg and 53.12 kg. The CPUE of bag net fishery reportedly declining season after season which may be due to overexploitation and anthropogenic activities which need to be addressed to conserve the fishery in the estuarine areas. 
National Seminar on “Advancement in Green Technology for Controlling and Managing Current Environmental Pollution” 
India