Relatively little is known of the offshore fisheries potential of the Bay of Bengal. Previous records deal chiefly with either the deep-sea deposits and biology of the fauna in depths exceeding 200 metres (Alcock, 1889,
1890 a, b, c, 1891 a, b, c, 1892 a, b, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899 a, b, 1902; Annandale, 1908; Borodin, 1930, 1932; Bolin, 1946; Lloyd, 1909; MacArdle, 1901; Sewell, 1912) or the intertidal and shoreline fauna (Alcock, 1890 a-c, 1892 a-c; Arora and Banerji, 1957; Blyth, 1861; Carpenter, 1885; Chacko, 1949; Day, 1878; Gravely, 1941, 1942; Jenkins, 1912; Koumans,
1941; Norman, 1927; Russell, 1803; Satyamurti, 1952, 1956). The Bengal Government Steam Trawler 'Golden Crown' made a few hauls of the Orissa Coast in intermediate depths in 1909-1910 (Anon., 1911; Jenkins, 1911; Annandale, 1909, 1910 a,b). In 1950, the West Bengal Government initiated a regular fishing program with two Danish trawlers, and in 1956 three Japanese trawlers were added to the fleet
