SPATIAL FIN-FISHERY SPECIES DIVERSITY OF ULHAS RIVER ESTUARY

Rathod Sudesh D.1 and Dr. Nandini Patil2

Department of Zoology, B. N. Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT Ulhas river estuary is subjected to heavy pollution due to the industrial and residential belts established along its either banks incurring huge amount of non-point and point pollution sources. Ambient hydrological conditions assessed during July 2005 to May 2006 and anthropogenic stresses are critical therefore leading to the decline in the fishery diversity as compared to earlier records. The abundant main fin-fishery species were replaced by the pollution tolerant species in due course of time. Several finfisheries have been obliterated in the estuary. Majority of the fishermen have abandoned the fishing practices due to non-productive status of the Ulhas river estuary fin-fisheries. The species diversity and species richness of the present diversity were conducive of the former observations. Keywords: Ulhas river estuary, fin-fish, diversity, fisheries

Oral Presentation at Biodiversity Asia-2012, Bangalore, India..

International conference Biodiversity Asia 2012- Science, Policy and Governance 2nd Regional Conference of Society for Conservation of Biology- Asia Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 7-10, August 2012, Go to: www.biodiversityasia2012.org

Rathod Sudesh D. and Dr. Nandini Patil Department of Zoology, B. N. Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, Maharashtra, India

Study Area

Ulhas river estuary (URE) leis in the vicinity of Thane city, Maharashtra State, India (between the latitude 18 45to19 19, N and longitude 7321to72 45, E on the world map)

Methodology
Three zones of Ulhas River Estuary (URE) viz. Z-I; Z-II & Z-III Study from July 2005 to May 2006 (11 months) Hydrology WT, LP, SS, pH, Salinity, DO, BOD, PO4-P & NO3-N Anthropogenic activities at sight Fishery catch survey survey at sight & markets

Fish Landing

Fishing Gears and Crafts

Mudskipper Fishing & Dragnet (Bari)

Bari

Mudskipper Fishing

Hand Picking

Barrier Net (Vana); (Pocha); Bag Net (Bokshi) Gillnet (Busa)

Bokshi Vana

Pocha

Gillnet

Hand Nets & Others

Seeds net

Jholva- Waddingnet

Fug Cast net

Lift Net

Mechanized Boat Padava & Canoe Hodi

Padava

Result Zonal Hydrology

Water Temp (oC)
28.4 25.00 20.00 15.00

Light Penetration (cm)

28.2
28.0 27.8 27.6 27.4 27.2 27.0
Z-I Z-II Z-III

10.00
5.00 0.00
Z-I Z-II Z-III

Suspended Solids (gm/l)

12.00 10.00 7.85 7.80 7.75 7.70 7.65 7.60 7.55 7.50 7.45 7.40
Z-I

pH

8.00
6.00 4.00 2.00

0.00
Z-I Z-II Z-III

Z-II

Z-III

Zonal Hydrology
Salinity (ppt)
25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00
Z-I Z-II Z-III Z-I Z-II Z-III

DO (mg/l)

0.00

BOD (mg/l)
8.00 7.00 6.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 0.00
Z-I Z-II Z-III

0.60
0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 Z-I

PO4-P (mg/l)

Z-II

Z-III

NO3-N (mg/l)
1.40 1.20 1.00 0.80 0.60

Very

0.40
0.20 0.00 Z-I Z-II Z-III

High SS, BOD, PO4P, NO3-N and hypoxia indicate high pollution status of the ambient environment

Z-I

is highly polluted

Impact of Anthropogenic Activities

Civil & Ritual Activities

Solid Waste Dumping

Sand Excavation

Boats engaged in sand excavation by Dubi method

Mangrove Extraction and Boat Building

Zonal Intensity of Anthropogenic Perturbation

16 14

Solid waste
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Z-I Z-II Z-III

Sewage/effluent Civil activities Sand excavation Sand landing

Fishing attempts intensity

Zonal Ave Fishing Intensity
120 100 80 60 40 20 0
Z-I Z-II Z-III

Vana Dol Bari Gobiids HdLine Gillnets

Species Succession

Hardy species like Mystus gulio, Mugil spp., Therapon spp., Scylla serrata, Boleophthalmus dussumieri still persist in Zone-I of the URE Succession of species such as Oreochromis mossambicus, Megalops cyprinoides etc. occurred with the advent of pollution status.

Zonal Fin Fisheries Zonal Catch & Diversity

10000 9000 8000

40 35 30

7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

25 20 15

Spp. Diversity Ave. Landing (kg)

5250

6981

8656
10 5 0

Z-I

Z-II

Z-III

Repercussions of Anthropogenic Activities: Mangrove siccession

Mangrove

Acanthus ilicifolius

Plastic masking pneumatophores

Repercussions of Anthropogenic Activities: Fish

Mudskipper youngones trapped in plastic

Fish Mass-kill

Socio-economic Impact
10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Z-I Z-II Z-III 438 653 194 4500 9000 8500

9 8

7
6 5 4 3 2 1 0

AFP FPF %

AFP: Actual fishermen population FPF: Fishermen presently practicing the fishing

Conclusion
Health of ambient water deteriorates with human interferences, causing mass kill and eradication of several species from the URE. Fin-Fisheries assemblage and diversity declined with increase in anthropogenic perturbation as evident from fisheries of Zone-I and Zone-II are low. Zone-I, almost has become non-productive With the decline in fisheries fishing activities declined. Major population fishermen abandoned fishing Practice.

Acknowledgement
We are grateful to our Principal, B. N. Bandodkar College of Science for allowing us to present the paper. We are indebted to organizing body of the Conference Biodiversity Asia 2012: Science, Policy & Governance for allowing us to present our work. We also express our thanks to those all who have extended their hands in preparation of this presentation.

Thank You