Finfish Diversity of Narmada Estuary in Gujarat of India

During the period (July 2014–June 2015) of investigation, 85 finfish species belonging to 65 genera, 35 families and 12 orders were encountered from 72 km stretch of Narmada estuarine region. The order Perciformes was found dominant (30 species) followed by Siluriformes (18 species), Cypriniformes (15 species), Clupeiformes (8) etc. Four species such as Tor tor, Wallago attu, Ompok bimaculatus and Ailia coila found under Near Threatened and Cyprinus carpio as a Vulnerable category during the investigation. During 2014–2015, the total fish production from Narmada estuary was 1618 tonnes and it exhibited a decline trend with species like Tenualosa ilisha, Tor tor, Labeo fimbriatus, Rita rita, Rita gogra and Notopterus notopterus being the most affected species. It could be attributed to various factors like the construction of dams, industrial effluents, domestic sewage, over fishing and habitat destruction. It needs suitable interventions for conservation of rich fish diversity of the estuary.