NATIONAL SEMINAR ON AQUARESOURCES : CARE AND CONCERNS February 14, 2015 PROGRAMME & ABSTRACTS Organised by Social Environmental and Biological Association (SEBA) In collaboration with ENVIS Centre on Faunal Diversity, Zoological Survey of India and | West Bengal Biodiversity Board | WessNat. Sem. on Aquaresources: Care & Concerns AQUARESOURCES OF PATAN WETLAND, MURSHIDABAD : FLORAL AND FAUNAL DIVERSITY Mitu De! and Santi Ranjan Dey? "Department of Botany, Gurudas College, Kolkata-700 054 *Department of Zoology, Berhampore Girls’ College, Berhampore, Murshidabad Corresponding author: Email: srdey1@rediffmail.com As any natural habitat, wetlands are important in supporting species diversity. In addition to being essential contributors to biodiversity and ecological productivity, wetlands also provide a variety of services for human populations, including water for drinking and irrigation, recreational opportunities and habitat for economically important fisheries. However, aquatic systems have been increasingly threatened, directly and indirectly, by human activities. In addition to the challenges posed by land-use change, environmental pollution, and water diversion, aquatic systems are expected to experienced soon begin added stress of global climate change. Biodiversity enumeration of such wetlands, especially in terms of ecologically sensitive species of both flora and fauna is important for estimating the general health as well as development of proper conservation plans for the entire ecosystem. ‘Patan beel’, a relatively unexplored wetland of North-West Murshidabad, is located between latitude 24° 2° 4” North and 24° 3° 20” North and longitude 88° 1° 18” East and 88° 0 15” East. This approximately 500 acres wetland contains forested area, some human habitation and low but cultivable land. The area is unique in floral and faunal “composition. This study has revealed that ‘Patan beel’ contains 47 species of plants, 64 species of indigenous fish, 3 species of amphibians, 7 species of reptiles and 21 species of birds. Some of the birds are totally aquatic, some are migratory in nature. The seasonal occurrence of some plants and their associated fauna is also noted from Patan wetland. To conserve and manage wetland resources, it is important to have inventory of wetlands and their aqua-resources both in terms of flora and fauna. FISH BIODIVERSITY IN EAST KOLKATA WETLAND: ITS UTILISATION AND CONSERVATION B. K. Mahapatra Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Deemed University (ICAR), Kolkata Centre, Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata~700 091. E-Mail: bkmahapatra2007@yahoo.co.in East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), the only Ramsar site in West Bengal, is very significant for the wise use of sewage water, especially for aquaculture and harbouringNat. Sem. on Aquaresources: Care & Concerns the biological diversity. The commercially important aquatic species in the EKW includes 58 species of fish, 11 species of prawns, 3 species of crabs and 20 species of molluscs. Among the 58 species 10 are exotic and 48 are indigenous fish species. In EKW, among the 58 species of fish, 17 are culture species and 41 are wild species. In this unique system, 308 city-sewage-fed fisheries are operating where treatment of the sewage and pisciculture are performed in the same pond. Eight indigenous fish, viz., Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo bata, Labeo calbasu, Labeo rohita, Lates calcarifer, Liza cephalous, Liza parsia and 9 exotie fish, ie. ‘Aristichthys nobillis nobilis, Clarias gariepinus, Ctenopharyngodon idela, Cyprinus carpio, Hypothalmicthyes molithrix, Oreochromis mossambica, Oreochromis nilotica, Pangassius sutchi, Piaractus brachypomus are being used for aquaculture. Fortyfive indigenous and 9 exotic fish species which are available naturally in EKW have good ornamental potential. Among the prawns commercially important species are: Macrobrachium lamarraei, Macrobrachium rude and Macrobrachium malcomonii. Sartoriana spinigera is an important crab species among all. Among the molluscan species important gastropods are: Bellamya bangalensis and Pila globosa, and Lamellidens marginalis is an important bivalve species in EKW. This paper highlights the overview of fish biodiversity and utilization and discusses the management strategies to be implemented for the conservation of fish diversity in the EKW. AWARENESS LEVEL OF FISHERS FOR CONSERVATION OF INDIAN SHAD TENUALOSA ILISHA IN THREE SELECTED LOCALITIES ALONG HOOGHLY ESTUARY IN WEST BENGAL S. Sarkar, S. K. Das, Sanjeev Kumar*, S. Behera and T. S. Nagesh Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Faculty of Fishery Sciences, West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences, Chakgaria, P.O. Panchasayer, Kolkata-700 094 *corresponding author: e-mail:sanjeevshark@gmail.com Conservation studies in fisheries is multi disciplinary and it needs support of various experts to address the issues. Several issues in conservation and management of hilsa fisheries require both ecological and societal issues. However, the conservation of hilsa in West Bengal is a major issue for remarkable decline of its production because of anthropogenic activities. The present investigation of awareness level of fishers through a pretested questionnaire was administered to fisher population