The Andaman and Nicobar Islands enjoy the status
of an archipelago with over 550 islands, islets and rocky
outcrops in the Bay of Bengal, lying between 6''45'N
and 13°41'N lat. and between 92°12'E and 93''57'E
long. With a land area of only 8293 sq. km, it has a
total coastline of 1962 km which is about one-fourth
of the total coastline of India. Of the 2 million
sq.km of the Exclusive Economic Zone of India, 0.6
million sq.km or 30 % of the area lies around the Anda
man and Nicobar Islands. However, the annual marine
fish production in the islands is around 1500 tonnes
forming about 0.1 % of the total of India's 1.4 million
tonnes. Being oceanic islands, the continental shelf
around them is limited to about 16,000 sq.km as com.
pared to the total shelf area of about 452,000 sq.km of
the country. With practically no continental slope,
the land drops steeply to great depths not far from the
coastline
