Estuarine Fisheries

In India
Estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed
body of water along the coast where
freshwater from rivers and streams
meet and mix with salt water from the
ocean. Estuaries and the lands
surrounding them are places of
transition from land to sea, and although
influenced by the tides, they are
protected from the full force of ocean
waves, winds, and storms by such
landforms as barrier islands or
peninsulas.

Because of the many species of fish

and wildlife that rely on the sheltered
waters of estuaries as protected places
to spawn, estuaries are often called the
“nurseries of the sea.”     
Definition given by Scientist Pritchard(1967)

Estuary is “A semi enclosed coastal

body of water which has a free connection
with open sea and within which sea water
is measurably diluted with fresh water
derived from the land drainage.”
 Classification of Estuaries
• It can be classified on two basis:
(1) Geomorphological classification
(2) Physical classification
(1) Geomorphological classification
Has been given by Pritchard (1967) classified into four
types:
(i) Drowned river valley estuary or Coastal plane
estuary
(ii) Fjord estuary
(iii) Bar-build estuary
(iv) Estuaries produced by Tectonic action of the earth.
(i) Drowned River Valley Estuary
Drowned river valley or coastal plain estuaries were formed by
rising sea level during the last interglacial period (about 15,000
years ago) which flooded river valleys that were cut into the
landscape when sea level was lower. Chesapeake Bay (Virginia and
Maryland) and Galveston Bay (Texas) are classical examples of this
type of estuary. This is the most classical type of estuary found
along the coastal line with a relatively wide coastal plain and
according to it is also called as “Coastal Plain Estuary”. Coastal
Plain Estuaries are formed by the sea level rising and filling an
existing river valley.
Example: Sundarban Estuary
(ii) Fjord Estuary
Such estuaries are not found in India. These are formed in the cold
continental zone by glacial action and their mouth particularly
gauzed by glacial deposits and they are very deep ranging depth
from 300-400m. In colder climates, glaciers cut deep valleys in the
landscape. When glaciers recede during warmer climate periods,
coastal waters fill the valley to form fjord-type estuaries, which are
common in New England and Alaska.
(iii) Bar- Build Estuaries
They are commonly formed by the up rise of shoreline by
the deposits of sand and soil as the mouth of such
coastal water body is narrow accordingly the extend of
tidal effect is also reduced. The movement of sand and
formation of sandbars along the coastline can enclose
bodies of water and form lagoon-type or bar-built
estuaries such as Laguna Madre, Texas.

(iv) Tectonic Estuary

Formed by tectonic action of earth surface.
Earthquakes and faulting (the development of faults)
may cause the rapid sinking of coastal areas below sea
level to form tectonically produced estuaries such as San
Francisco Bay, California.
 Physical classification
• There are two type of estuary:
(1)Positive Estuary
(2) Negetive Estuary

(1)Positive Estuary: These are those in which the influx of

fresh water is sufficient to undergo mixing and
accordingly the pattern of salinity variation is increasing
towards the river mouth and decreasing towards the
tidal confluence from the mixohaline zone. Pattern of
salinity variation is horizontal. Further they have low O 2
concentration in deeper water because of the high
organic detritus load. Such type of estuary are
considered as very productive.
(2) Negative Estuary
Pattern of salinity variation is vertical. At
the top the salinity will be more and
towards bottom its decreases. They are
found in arid region where the rate of
evaporation is more than that of rate of
influx of water. In vertical barrier O2
concentration remain same so there is no
organic load at bottom and considered as
low/poor productive.
Common characteristics of Indian Estuaries:

• Mouth part is horse-shoe shaped.

• Facing towards sea gentle slope & on river side it is
steep.
• Mouth zone gauzed by diversified population of
mangroves.
• Having vertical distribution of salinity.
• The depth and width generally increases.
• The bottom of the estuary gets built up due to
deposition of materials brought by the floodwaters.
• Biologically an estuary is more unique in allowing the
development of a set of plants and animals that can
thrive in a buffer media of estuary. Euryhaline organisms
capable develops and thrive here.

Conti……….
• Estuarine environment supports pure freshwater forms
in the upper reaches, euryhaline forms in the middle
regions and stenohaline forms in areas near to the
mouth.
• During flooding and monsoon conditions, only
freshwater forms are present and during dry period or
summer with no or less freshwater inflow more marine
forms inhabit the region and the euryhaline
brackishwater forms exist during rest of the period.
• Because of their sheltered nature, estuaries offer safe
navigation and anchoring of boats and ships.
• Ideal nursery areas for a wide variety of commercially
important marine fin fishes and shell fishes.
• Estuarine characters influenced by tidal regimes.
 Primary Characteristics of Estuary
The four primary characteristics of a freshwater
estuary outlined in The Glossary of Geology are
described in greater detail below.

(1) Drowned River Mouths

A drowned river mouth occurs when the lower end of

a river is submerged or flooded by encroaching water
from the Great Lakes. Drowned river mouths are
typically the result of geologic factors that have been
occurring over thousands of years. At the end of the last
Ice Age around 10,000 years ago, massive amounts of
ice, which were as much as several hundred feet thick,
retreated from much of the Great Lakes Basin (Dott &
Attig, 2004). As the ice retreated, the earth’s crust,
which had been compressed by the incredible weight of
the ice, started to very slowly rebound.
• The rebounding of the earth’s crust is still occurring
today. The crustal rebound has also caused the outlet of
the Great Lakes to rebound, sometimes faster than
areas downstream. The rise in the outlet level of the
Great Lakes has created a subsequent rise in lake water
level and the encroachment of Great Lakes water into
river valleys, thereby creating drowned river mouth
systems (Herdendorf, 1990). In fact, the U.S. Geological
Survey (1995) has found that the southwestern portions
of Lake Superior have risen approximately 15 to 18 feet
over the past 2000 years. They estimate that the lake
level rise in those areas is occurring at a rate of one inch
per decade. Their study predicts that the rising Lake
Superior water levels attributable to crustal rebound will
continue to inundate low-lying river mouths and expand
wetlands.
(2) River-Lake Transition Zone

Freshwater estuaries have a zone of transition

from stream water to lake water. The mixing of water
in this transition zone is influenced by seiche and wind
tides and creates unique characteristics. For example,
stream water typically has a higher temperature and
greater turbidity (i.e., the degree of cloudiness in
water caused by suspended solids) than Great Lakes
water. The mixing of river and lake water in a
freshwater estuary can affect temperature, turbidity,
and chemical composition (Herdendorf, 1990). Those
affects can, in turn, impact water density; currents;
and sediment, nutrient, and contaminant transport, all
of which influence important ecological processes.
(3)Seiche and Wind Tides

The Great Lakes exhibit an interesting natural

phenomenon called a “seiche”. A seiche is an
oscillation, or periodic back-and-forth movement,
that occurs in large water bodies (Herdendorf, 1990;
Neuendorf et al., 2005). One way to visualize a
seiche is to imagine a bowl of water that you gently
shake. After shaking the bowl, the water moves
back-and-forth. The same phenomenon happens in
the Great Lakes, only the factors “shaking” the Great
Lakes are atmospheric disturbances such as winds or
changes in barometric pressure. In water bodies as
large as the Great Lakes, the back-and-forth
movement never actually stops and seiche effects
can be observed on a daily basis. The intervals, or
periods, between seiche peaks on the Great Lakes
can range from minutes to more than eight hours
(Keillor, 2003).
• Seiches can cause changes in water surface elevations of
a few inches or several feet depending upon
atmospheric conditions. Freshwater estuaries experience
frequent wet and dry periods, especially near the water
margins, due to seiche effects.
• A wind tide, or storm surge, is a vertical rise in water
level on the leeward, or downwind, side of a water body
as a result of strong winds. Storm surges on the Great
Lakes can produce a change in water level of up to 8
feet under extreme conditions (Keillor, 2003). Wind tides
can also be a contributing factor to seiche effects.
(4)Barrier Spits and Bay mouth Bars

Freshwater estuaries are commonly

separated from the adjacent main body
of water by a barrier spit or bay mouth
bar. Spits and bars are accumulations of
sand and gravel in the Great Lakes that
can form entirely or partly across the
mouth of a river. Many, although not all,
freshwater estuaries are partially
enclosed by bars or spits.
 Factors affecting productivity of
Estuaries
• Primary productivity of estuaries is highly
correlated with phytoplankton biomass and an
index of light availability in the photic zone.
Because estuaries are turbid and nutrient rich,
light availability may be the most important
factor controlling biomass-specific productivity.
Boynton et al. (1982) suggested that estuarine
phytoplankton productivity in system, high
during warm periods of the year, and at times
when ratios of nitrogen to phosphorus are low.
Important Estuarine Resources in
India
• These are:
(i) Hoogly Matlah Estuary (West Bengal)
(ii) Mahanadi Estuary (Orissa)
(iii) Godavari Estuary (Andhra Pradesh)
(iv) Krishna Estuary (Andhra Pradesh)
(v) Cauvery Estuary (Tamil Nadu)
(vi) Narmada Estuary (Gujarat)
(vii) Tapti Estuary (Gujarat)
 Hoogly Matlah Estuary
(West Bengal)
• It is positive estuary.
• Area-42500 ha.
• It is a network of two rivers Hoogly and Matlah.
The lower tidal stretch of the river Ganges,
known as Hoogly (ca. 280 km), flows
southward before entering the Bay of Bengal
forming a vast mangrove-enriched estuarine
delta called Sunderbans.
Zonation of Hoogly Matlah Estuary
It is divided into five zones. These are very
important from fishery point of view.
Zone I: Also called as Freshwater zone. It extends from
Nabadwip in the north to Konnagar
Zone II: Also called as Middle zone or Gradient zone.
Extends from Konnagar to Diamond harbour.
Zone III: Also called as Lower or Marine zone. Extends
from Diamond harbour to the mouth of the estuary
including entire lower Sunderbans. Most productive zone
from fishery point of view.
Zone IV: Includes river Rupnarain.
Zone V: Includes river Matlah around Port Canning.
 Physicochemical Characteristics of
Hoogly-Matlah estuary
• Physicochemical characteristics of this partially mixed
estuary are largely influenced by the interaction of
seawater and discharge of riverine freshwater, annual
precipitation and surface runoff.
• The levels of salinity, total dissolved solids, hardness and
conductivity showed an increasing downward trend.
• Marked increase in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
values (2.20–5.95 mg/l) was recorded in Babughat
whereas correspondingly low values (0.75–2.82 mg/l)
were noticed at Gangasagar. This can be attributed
mainly due to huge organic load of untreated sewage
from the twin city Howrah and Calcutta situated in the
east and west of the river.
• Level of metals registered a seasonal pattern, with an increase
during late monsoon months (September–October), a period
characterized by low salinity and relatively low pH of the water.
• Water temperature ranges from 20°C to 34.5°C.
• pH ranges between 7.5 to 8.5.
• Water transparency ranges from 8 to 27.
• Nitrate level ranges from 0.04 to 0.61mg/l
• Phosphate level ranges from 0.03 to 0.19
• Silicate, ranges from 3.2-12.3 mg/l.
• Distribution of Salinity in first three zones:
Zone I: 0.6 ppt
Zone II: 3-8 ppt
Zone III: 17-21 ppt
Zone I & II can be called as estuary but zone third is actually
the mouth of estuary.
 Plankton production in Hoogly-
matlah estuary
• In Hoogly Matlah estuary plankton production is
bimodal.
• First peak – June –August
• Second peak- Nov-Feb
• Minimum production- During last monsoon
month.
• Highest production- Upper zone
• Medium production- lower zone
• Lowest production- Middle zone
Fisheries of Hoogly Matlah estuary
• Catch composition of particular zone of estuary depend
on resident fish species and the migratory fish species.
• Hilsa is dominant fish species.
• The total fish catch of this estuary is fluctuating within
the range of 2,270-26,660 tonnes (1957-58) and (1984-
85) respectively.
• Maximum fish catch is coming from zone III which
contribute to 70-75% of total fish catch of the Hoogly
Matlah estuary.
• Catch of Hilsa fluctuated between 114 1nd 2,359 tonnes
during 1956-58 and 1975-76, respectively and during
1991-92 the total catch from this estuarine system
varied from 13,213 to 65,026 tonnes. Of which, the
contribution of Hilsa was from 9,004 to 9,110 tonnes.
• The peak catches of Hilsa were from July-
August, mid of October and winter
(November-June). Higher catches during
winter attributed to environmental
conditions, while greater inflow of
freshwater during monsoon contributed to
higher catch.
 Important fish species from
commercial point of view
• Hilsa ilisha
• Lates calcarifer
• Liza parsia
• L. tade
• Mugil cephalus
• Mystus
• Eutroplus suratensis
• Polynemus peradisus
• Mugil parsia
• Mugil tada
• Penaeus indicus
• Perna perna
• Sillago panijius
• Some species of prawn (Penaeus indicus, P. monodon,
Metapenaeus monoceros, M. brevicornis)
 Type of nets used
Maximum catch comes from the use
of bag net contributing about 70-80%
of the total catch (Bag nets are set net
or stationary nets which are fixed at
one place against the water currents).
Catch of Hilsa is done in the upper
reaches of estuaries by dip net and
purse net and in lower reaches by gill
nets and encircling nets.