S. K. Mohanty

Eco-Restoration Impact on Fishery Biodiversity and Population Structure in Chilika Lake

Chilika lake is not only the largest coastal wetland and a much focused Ramsar Site of international importance but also a unique fragile brackishwater ecosystem of distinction being regarded as the store house of rich living aquatic resources and hot spot of biodiversity (Fig. 1). With unique ecological Open image in new window Figure 1: Map of Chilka lake showing four ecological sectors, hydrological connections, hydrological intervention and fish landing sampling centres. characters resulting mostly from two antagonistic hydrological processes (freshwater inflow and sea water influx), Chilika has no parallel in the tropical world. The economic valuations of Chilika ecosystem has clearly established the importance of fisheries resources which accounts for more than 71% of the total valuation of the lake ecosystem (Ritesh Kumar, 2003), apart from providing food and livelihood securities to nearly 0.20 million people depending on lake fisheries. Fisheries of Chilika lake has been supporting the state economy and contributing to the earning of valuable foreign exchange to the extent of about 200 million rupees. However, fisheries of the lake suffered the most during the critical eco-degradation phase (last two decades) both in terms of yield and biodiversity status due to continued natural changes and unabated anthropogenic pressure.

Ichthyofaunal diversity of Chilika Lake, Odisha, India: an inventory, assessment of biodiversity status and comprehensive systematic checklist (1916-2014)

Chilika Lake, an assemblage of marine, brackish and freshwater ecosystems, on the east coast of India is a designated Ramsar site and a biodiversity hotspot. Intensive ichthyofaunal inventories and biodiversity assessments were carried out during 2000–2014 and documented 317 species belonging to 207 genera, in 88 families and 23 orders, including two endemic (Gobiidae) and one exotic cichlid species ( Oreochromis mossambicus ). In total, 255 collections (178 collections of previously recorded species and 77 that represent newly recorded species) were made during a post-restoration survey accounting for 80.44% retrieval of historically documented species. This paper presents an updated and comprehensive checklist of the lake’s ichthyofauna (1916–2014), which is comprised of 278 food fishes, 271 (85.49%) migratory and 46 (14.51%) are resident species indicating that the lake fishery is largely migratory species-dependent. An account of faunal characteristics for 129 commercially important species is provided. The checklist also documents 48 threatened species and 103 species under different categories of conservation status.