International Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202 Vol. 3(9), 8-13, September (2014) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 8 Crafts and Gears operated in Brackish water fed canal for harvesting Fishes in different Seasons to maintain livelihood of the Fishermen communities Payra Pijush, Mandal Basudev and Rana Ganesh Chandra Department of Aquaculture Management and Technology, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore–721 102 West Bengal, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 28 th February 2014, revised 14 th April 2014, accepted 15 th May 2014 Abstract The crafts and gears operated in the coastal area of South West Bengal on traditional basis in different seasons for harvesting of table size fin fish and shell fishes are dealt in details in the paper. The brackish water fed canal namely Negua Diversion Canal runs across the Contai subdivision, Block of Egra-I, Egra-II, Ramnagar-I and Ramnagar-II in the District of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Moreover, it is evident that the canal has great potentiality for growth of fin fish and Shell fish resources of freshwater and brackish water. The canal has higher productivity due to the periodical tidal fluctuation of the Bay of Bengal. Because of the tidal inflow, the canal carries huge amount of brackish water which sustained the various life forms like-plankton, seedling of fin fish and shell fishes. The composition of fishes varies from season to season. The major fish species includes - Ilophis brunneus (Turd), Gobiosoma hilebrandi (Balkiri), Scatophagus argus (Vaja chauli), Sillago sihama (Sila), Terapon jarbua (Kunkuni), Eubleekeria splendens (Tekathi), Mugil cephalus (Parse), Eleotris pisonis (Balkiri), Mystus sp (Tangra), Stolothrissa tanganicae (Kagja), Lates calcarifer (Vetki), Synaptura panoides (Pata), Hemibagrus gracilis (Kandhia), Periophthalmus modestus (Danphar), Alosa pseudoharengus (Khayera) , Pomadasys hasta (Khurunda ), Penaeus monodon (Bagda), Fenneropenaeus indicus (Toni) , Metapenaeus dobsoni (Pamra), Metapenaeus monoceros (Honye), Scylla serrata (Kaliya kankra), Portunus pelagicus (Jahajiya kankra), Carcinoscorpius sp (Rajkankra) etc. Different types of crafts and gears used for capturing fishes are Dinghi, Vala, Cast net, Gill net, Scoop net without handle, Hook and line, Fixed net, Suti net, Been jal, Ber jal etc. The approximate production of shell fish is about 160 -165 kg/ha/year and fin fish 250-270 kg/ha/year. Therefore, the fishermen communities who are exclusively dependent on capture and marketing of fishes, for livelihood their socioeconomic status is considerably high as compared to the other people involved in agriculture. Keywords: Craft and gears, fish capture, marketing, socioeconomic development, brackish water canal. Introduction India is blessed with almost all forms of rich natural resource of water and vast fish bio-diversity. In India aquaculture is the fastest growing sub-sector of agriculture. Though India is the second largest producer of fish from culture after the red giant China, the quantum of production is substantially low compared to the leader. India has a vast potential in the fisheries sector both in inland, brackish water and marine sector. India has the potential of very high fish production but, present fish production is 6.4 MT, in which inland sector contributes 3.4 MT and marine sector contributes 3.0 MT. Brackish water Resources of India includes Estuaries, Coast Line, Backwater, Mangroves, lagoons etc. Brackish water Aquaculture has been identified by the Government of India as one of the high potential area for increasing fish and shell fish production and also to achieve maximum economic and social benefits. The coastal area of West Bengal is the home of some of the poorest people, living in some of the least served and remote areas of the State. The total population is around 82 million in 3 coastal districts namely, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Purba (East) Medinipur. These inhabited areas are densely populated. 2.47 million Fishermen population lives in these 3 districts. Majority of this population is classified as scheduled castes and schedule tribes, meaning that the Government of India considers them to be disadvantaged groups deserving special attention because of their levels of poverty and neglect. In the district of Purba Medinipur there are diverse types water bodies of brackishwater. It has great potentiality of the fin fish and also shell fish production. In this district the Negua Diversion Canal is located in between Shankarpur and Kudi (Egra block). The canal originated from Kudi and finally meets in to the Bay of Bengal at Sankarpur and in its way it shows characteristic water quality which supports numerous aquatic species including fishes. The fishermen inhabiting in the locality of this canal have gained wide experience in using particular type of crafts and gears for catching particular type of fish. The pattern of fishing technique is based on the topography, ecology and fishes available. There is a saying necessity is the mother of invention is well reflected in the use of fishing crafts and gears, invented by the fishermen. The economic condition of the fishermen community is reflected by the substances which they use for making their crafts and gears. The small scale fisheries sector using the traditional crafts and gears has significant role in Indian fisheries. Craft and gear employed in marine fishing in certain regions of the Indian coasts have been documented earlier by Chidambaram 1 , Rao 2 , Anon 3 , CMFRl 4 , Mahapatra 5