Population characteristics and trends in artisanal fishery of Scylla serrata (Forsskål, 1775) in Indian Sundarban: Implications on future managements Shilpa Sen, Sumit Homechaudhuri * Aquatic Bioresource ResearchLaboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019, West Bengal, India article info Article history: Received 26 February 2016 Received in revised form 11 August 2016 Accepted 23 August 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Mud crabs Sundarban Artisanal crab fishery Fishing techniques Social-ecological system abstract Mud crabs (Scylla serrata) are the most conspicuous and commercially important portunid species in the Indo-Pacific mangroves. In Indian Sundarban mangrove, mud crabs are valuable bioresource that contributed economically for the coastal communities. The majority of the crab fishers use traditional methods with minimal investment and without any restriction, resulting unregulated fishery practices. The present study aims to identify the status of crab fishery following ecological and social aspects over three year's data series. Monthly samplings were conducted in seven fishing villages of Sundarban having similar principle livelihood and socio-cultural makeup. The population structure, abundance, biomass and sex-ratio of the crabs were recorded each month. The organization of local marketing chain was analyzed. Daily and monthly catch in different traditional fishing techniques were compared. Based on the three years survey data a conceptual framework of future management strategy had also been developed. Six different size classes were identified during the study. Ovigerous ratio and juvenile recruitment of the population showed distinct peaks. Two major fishing techniques were identified which are practiced traditionally by the local communities. They differed in terms of size-specific collection, catch per unit effort and hours of activities for the crab collectors. Maximum exploitation of the wild population was observed in the case of mangrove-fringed villages. Due to the recent increasing demands of mud crabs in domestic and international markets, the natural stock is continually been depleted. Therefore, involvement of the resource extractors into the future management trajec- tories is necessary to overcome the present crisis. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Mangroves are salt tolerant plants typically occurring in the brackish water zones along the tropical and subtropical coastline (ITTO, 2002). Mangrove ecosystems are long being recognized for their habitat functions for the fish and other faunal communities of commercial value as well as for effective nutrient cycling, sediment trapping, protection of shoreline from erosion (FAO, 2007). They are among the most productive eco- systems supporting both terrestrial and marine food webs and contributing significant carbon to some offshore fisheries (Ellison, 2008). 1.1. The sundarban mangrove The UNESCO world Heritage Site, Sundarban Reserve Forest, is the largest tidal mangrove in the world contributing 6% to the total mangrove forest on earth (Gopal and Chauhan, 2006). Formed by the estuarine phase of the Ganges-Meghna-Brahmaputra river systems, Sundarban is famous for its fisheries and forestry re- sources (Gopal and Chauhan, 2006). Being an ideal mangrove ecosystem, Sundarban supports a wide array of floral and faunal species. The association of flora and fauna results in the formation of an intricate food web that is instrumental for the coastal ecosystem as well as the adjacent seas (Schaeffer-Novelli,1995). On a different note, these ecosystems are the chosen niche by a great number of fishermen for their survival (Odum and Heald, 1972). The local communities in Sundarban use mangrove-derived prod- ucts as resources for their subsistence and alternative income. A greater portion of the community is dependent on fishery * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: lusu2001@gmail.com (S. Sen), sumithomechaudhuri@gmail. com (S. Homechaudhuri). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ocean & Coastal Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.08.021 0964-5691/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Ocean & Coastal Management xxx (2016) 1e10 Please cite this article in press as: Sen, S., Homechaudhuri, S., Population characteristics and trends in artisanal fishery of Scylla serrata (Forsskål, 1775) in Indian Sundarban: Implications on future managements, Ocean & Coastal Management (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.ocecoaman.2016.08.021