Fish habitat and fisheries of Brahmaputra River in Assam, India

Abstract

River Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary major river flowing through the northeastern state of Assam, India and is the lifeline of its natural fisheries. In the present article, we discuss eco-hydrobiology (including sediment quality and energy flow) of River Brahmaputra and its important tributaries in the state of Assam, India based on extensive synoptic studies conducted from April 1996 to March 1998, duly collated with past and present studies. Salient aspects of fisheries of the river system in the state (ichthyofauna, biogeography, conservation status, migratory and exotic fish species, trends in fish yield and species composition, fishing crafts and gear) are discussed in light of past and present studies conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Indian Fisheries Research Institute and others. Fisheries of floodplain wetlands (beels) located in the Brahmaputra valley in the state and their interaction with the river system are also discussed.

Length-weight relationship, length-length relationship and condition factor of Labeo bata (Hamilton, 1822) from central Brahmaputra valley of Assam

“…The mighty river Brahmaputra with 41 important tributaries covering about 640 km in the state. River Kolong-Kopili is an important south bank tributary draining the central Brahmaputra in Assam showing the presence of 141 finfish species belonging to 84 genera and 29 families [1] . Kolong, a tributary of river Brahmaputra with a total length of about 250 km, originates from a place near Jakhalabandha (Nagaon district, Assam) in between two hills viz.…”

A report on the occurrence of Bangana dero (Hamilton, 1822) from Deepor beel (Ramsar site no. 1207), Brahmaputra valley, Assam

“…However, it could not be verified whether B. dero is reported from Basistha river and adjoining hill streams draining into this wetland as limited work has been done on the ichthyofaunal diversity of these rivers and thus studies on fish diversity of these rivers is essential to ascertain the fact. B. dero is a commercially important minor carp of Brahmaputra river in Assam (Bhattacharjya et al, 2017) and there are also possibilities that this species might have migrated from the River Brahmaputra into the wetland through the connecting channel. This species has not been reported from this wetland prior to the present findings.…”

Taxonomic, morphometric and limnological assessment of the commercially important ichthyofauna of Sakhakot Stream, Malakand, Pakistan

“…The diversity, presence and abundance of fish fauna is different worldwide due to difference in geological and geographical characteristics of the environment (Shaikh et al, 2011;Joshi et al, 2017). The diversity, characteristics, abundance and population of fish depend upon breeding ground, food availability, geological and geographic features, physiochemical parameters, water, size, depth, water current and topographic characteristics (Bhattacharjya et al, 2017). Ichthyofauna in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan include 180 fish species in River Indus (Mirza, 2007), 11 species in Tanda Dam, Kohat (Haseeb et al, 2015), 5 species in Kandar Dam, Kohat (Haseeb et al, 2016) and 7 species in Chamla, District Buner (Din et al, 2016).…”