e - poz 2 - Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture

Several literatures are available on the distribution and diversity of benthic fauna inthe Vembanad lake during the prebanage phase, and that too concentrating onthe Cochin area. Some d the earlier works in this dimtion include that of Ansari(1974, 19773, Desai and Krishnankutty (19671, Covindankutty (1972), Jayasree(19711, Kurian (1967,1971, 19721, and Remani (1 979). The notable contributionsduring the post barrage phase were by Aravindakshan et a/. (1992), Gopalan et a/.(1987) and Nair and Sarala Devi (1986). Sarala Devi et a/. (1991) elaborated thecoexistence of different benthic communities in the northern limb of Cochinbackwaters. Nair et a/. (1983) gave an account on the population dynamics ofamphipods in Cochin backwater area. Devassy and Copinathan (19701, Kurian etal (1975) and Gopalan et al (1987) undertook some of the investigations on thebenthic fauna extending right from Cochin to Alappuzha.PRIMARY PRODUCTION : Stud~es on the prtmary product~on and 11s relat~onw~th other env~ronmental parameters In the Cochln backwaters have been a majorarea of research by several workers The Important works In th~s d~rect~on are theesttmat~on of plant puynents by Quas~m and Reddy (1967), the solar red~at~on andrelated aspeas by Quaslm et a1 (1968). In depth stud~es on the gross and netproductlv~h/ by l~ght and dark bottle method as well as C" methods wereundertaken by Quas~m et a/ (1969) Th~s study has brought out th~ product~onresplratlon and ass~m~latlon rates In relat~on to the env~ronmental parameten, thrsolar rad~atlon, chlorophyll contents, and the blologlcal componentsPOLLUTION : Sarala Dev~ et a1 (1979), Unn~than ef a1 (1975) and V~jayan el a/(1976) documented the effect of organlc pollution due to ~ndustrlal pollut~on onsome water qual~ty paramers In Coch~n backwater. Reman1 el dl (1980) studiedthe qual~ty of sedlment cn Coch~n backwaters In relat~on to pollut~on aspectsSarala Dev~ et a1 (1986) conducted elaborate stud16 In the Coch~n backwater onthe benth~ communlttes under the Impact of lndustr~al pollut~onFISHERY: Investigations on the distribution and abundance of fishes of Vembanadldke extending from Cochin to Alappuzha have been done by a number ofworkers. Pilla~ (1960) made a record of the distribution of the Hilsa rlrsha In thelake while George (1965) reported the unusual occurrence of mackerel. Shetty(1965) made a comprehensive description of the fishery practice along w~th alisting of the commercially important fish and prawn species of the Vembanad