Reservoir Fish In Assam

RESERVOIRS:

Reservoirs are man-made impoundments formed by the construction of any type of dam on a river, stream, or watercourse in order to impede the surface flow. They cover more than 1% of the country’s land surface; created primarily for irrigation, power generation and other water resource development purposes. For a variety of causes, these bodies of water have emerged as India's primary inland fisheries resource.

Reservoirs are classified as small (<1000 ha), medium (1000-5000 ha) and large (> 5000 ha) based on their ha by The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. During 1995, the country had 19,370 reservoirs, covering more than 3 million ha of reservoirs which included 19,134 small reservoirs with an area of 1,485,557 ha, 180 medium reservoirs covering 507,298 ha and 56 large reservoirs with a water surface area of 160,511 ha. The state Assam has two numbers of Reservoirs namely Khandong over Kopili River and Umrong over Umrong Nalah with a total area of 1813 ha and another two viz. Pagladia ( Pagladiya river) and Subansiri Lower Dam ( Subansiri River) are under-construction.

Fish Production Trend:

The average national yield from small reservoirs is nearly 50kg/ha. At present, the small, medium and large reservoirs yield fish at the rate of 49.5 kg/ha, 12.30 kg/ha and 11.43 kg/ha respectively. Rohu, Catla, Mrigal, Grass Carp, Silver Carp, Common Carp are the major contributor to fish production from Reservoirs fisheries.

MANAGEMENT:

Reservoir fisheries management is founded on the idea of enhancement, which is described as a set of management techniques that aim to increase the quality and quantity of water bodies by implementing particular management choices. The two most common forms of enhancement followed in Indian reservoirs are culture-based fisheries and stock enhancement. Small reservoirs are often maintained on the basis of culture-based fisheries, whereas medium and large reservoirs are handled on the basis of stock augmentation, also known as enhanced capture fisheries. Stocking fish into a reservoir, allowing the stock to grow on natural fish food supplies, and collecting them at the right size are all part of culture-based fisheries management.