I F SI Fisheries management of a sewage fed Gangetic floodplain wetland in the context of changing climate: A case study using multiple approaches Uttam Kumar Sarkar . Suchismita Saha . Puthiyottil Mishal . Gunjan Karnatak . Archan Kanti Das . Basanta Kumar Das . Dharmendra Kumar Meena . L. Lianthuamluaia . Sanjib Kumar Manna Received: 16 February 2020 / Accepted: 26 May 2020 © IFSI, Barrackpore, India, 2020 Abstract The study deals with fisheries management in Chaltia, a sewage fed lower Gangetic floodplain wetland of West Bengal, in the context of changing climate. The study was conducted through primary investigation coupled with a stakeholder driven approach. All the respondents perceived rise in temperature, reduction in rainfall, and incidence of extreme events as increasing threats to the wetland fisheries. The water quality parameters indicated the highly productive nature of the wetland. The APC of bacteria ranged from 4950 to 5800 with an average value of 5350±720 CFU/ml. The trophic state index (67.7) indicated eutrophic nature. The fishers have adopted Pen culture utilizing fast-growing hardy species viz. Pangasianodon hypophthalmus and Oreochromis niloticus, converting the waste into blue carbon. The present fish yield realized through culture-based fisheries ( CBF) practices from Chaltia wetland is 4745 kg/ha/yr which is much higher than the average yield of wetlands of India. The study describes the SWOT analysis, discusses different approaches, and recommends important measures for sustainable management of ecosystem and fisheries of the sewage fed floodplain wetland. Key words Floodplain; Wetland; Fisheries; Climate change; Sewage; Adaptation; Sustainability Introduction Changing climate is one of the major threats to wetlands across the globe (Ferrati et al. 2005). It is an added threat to existing vulnerabilities of fishermen (UNPEI, 2003). Since wetlands are biologically sensitive habitats, they are predicted to be among the most impacted ecosys- tems due to climate change (Ramsar Convention Secre- tariat, 2013; Sarkar and Borah, 2017; Das Sarkar et al., 2020). According to UNESCO (2007), global climate change is expected to become an important driver of loss and changes in wetlands. Some of the projected impacts on wetlands include a change in base flow, al- tered hydrology, increased thermal stress, increased flooding, decrease in water recharge, etc. Climate change induced rising of temperature and declining rainfall have already started showing their effects in the lakes in Gangetic plains (Sinha, 2011). Freshwater fish species change their distribution in response to climate change (Mohseni et al., 2003; Chu et al., 2005; Buisson et al., 2008) and it is a serious threat to the freshwater biodiversity as well as the biology of fish (Habit et al., 2006; Karnatak et al., 2018; Sarkar et al., 2018; Sarkar et al., 2019; Karnatak et al., 2020). The livelihood of the fishermen dependent on the wetland resources is equally subjected to vulnerability and distress due to climate change. The fisher’s take on changing climatic scenarios and response to the changes are to be recorded at the micro level. India is blessed with a wide range of floodplain wetlands Uttam Kumar Sarkar( ) Suchismita Saha . Puthiyottil Mishal . Gunjan Karnatak . Archan Kanti Das . Basanta Kumar Das . Dharmendra Kumar Meena . L. Lianthuamluaia . Sanjib Kumar Manna ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata- 700120, India email: uksarkar1@gmail.com JIFSI 2020 52 (1): 28-41 RESEARCH PAPER https://doi.org/10.47780/jifsi.52.1.2020.106540