Endemic Fish Diversity of Western Ghats

The Western Ghats along the West coast of Peninsular India are well known for their richness of biodiversity including freshwater species. The area has vast potential for endemic, cultivable and ornamental fish species. Indeed, it was the spices from the hill chain of Western Ghats that brought Europeans to India, an event of much significance in shaping the course of modern world history. Today, these Western Ghats are recognized as one of the eighteen “biodiversity hotspots” in the world, and are therefore a focus of great scientific interest

Annotated Bibliography on the Breeding Habits and Development of Fishes of the Indian Region

This ‘Foreword’ should serve as a preface also since I happen to be one of the authors of this Bulletin. Some personal reference, therefore is unavoidable. My association with investigations relating to breeding habits and development of fishes goes back to a period of about three and a half decades and despite exigencies of service and vicissitudes of official career it had been possible to maintain contact with the subject more or less uninterruptedly. At the time of initiation of work in this field the scattered and sketchy nature of the relevant literature became evident and the need for bringing them together and reviewing them was keenly felt. An attempt was made in this direction resulting in the account entitled “Breeding habits and development of Indian freshwater and brackishwater fishes” which was published by me in 1946 in two parts in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. This, I should say, was well received and soon after, with the change of assignment to fisheries research after a decade of service as an entomologist, it became possible for me to carry on work on the life-histories of fishes as a routine rather than as a hobby. With the literature collected till then two fairly comprehensive bibliographies entitled “Bibliography of breeding habits and development of fishes of inland waters of India” and “Bibliography of breeding habits and development of estuarine and marine fishes of India” were published in 1950 and 1951 respectively in the Journal of the Zoological Society of India. Incidentally it may be stated that these were the first bibliographies to be published in fisheries and marine sciences in the Indian Region and could be said to have paved the way for others

Renaissance in Fisheries: Outlook and Strategies - Book of Abstracts 9th Indian Fisheries Forum, December 19-23, 2011, Chennai, India

The Asian Fisheries Society – Indian Branch (AFSIB) since its inception in 1986, has been providing a platform for discussion at the national level on issues related to research, development, education and policies by organizing Indian Fisheries Forum (IFF) every three years in different parts of the country. The 9th Indian Fisheries Forum (9th iff) will be hosted by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), at Chennai during 19-23 December 2011. The main theme of the 9th iff is “Renaissance in Fisheries: Outlook & Strategies”. It would have a comprehensive look for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, for achieving greater synergy among the stakeholders and planning strategies for capture fisheries and aquafarming to build higher levels of sustainability and profitability. The forum would also address the issues of impact of climate change and its mitigation, resource constraint and species diversification for the expansion of fish production activity; and encourage young scientists to undertake need-based and resource specific research. An international symposium sponsored by the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BoBLME) is scheduled to be held during the forum on 21 December, 2011 with theme: Bay of Bengal–Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management