Productivity of the Arabian Sea alongThe southwest coast of India

Monsoon plays a critical role in triggering environmental features such as seawater temperature, salinity, disolved oxygen content and nutrient generation which In turn become responsible for production of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Along the southwest coast of India the intensity of southwest monsoon as evidenced by annual rainfall showed a declining trend during the years 1983 to 1988. An attmpt is made here to correlate certain environmental features with the abundance and fluctuations in phytoplankton and zooplankton in the inshore waters off Cochin, Vizhinjam and Minicoy.