Mahanadi Estuary Mahanadi estuary is situated in Cuttack and Puri district of Orissa. It is formed by the river Mahanadi which meets the Bay of Bengal. Its total area is 30,000 ha. The annual fish production is about 550 tonnes. The major fishes found in this estuary include mullets, seabass, sciaenids and prawns. This estuary is characterized by poor tidal oscillations and flood discharge due to sand bar formation in the sea mouth. This has affected fish yield from the estuary. 5.2.5 Godavari Estuary The Godavari estuary is situated at the place where the 1330 km long Godavari meets the Bay of Bengal on the east coast of India in the state of Andhra Pradesh. River Godavari divides at Dowlaiswaram into two prinicipal distributaries viz., the Vasishta and the Gautami which enclose a wide delta between them. The tidal effect is relised up to 45 km from the river mouth. The total area of this estuary is about 18000 ha. There are about 185 specie...
The Hooghly-Matlah estuary The Hooghly-Matlah estuary, which is located within the State of West Bengal, occupies the marshy deltaic area called the Sunderbans. Sunderbans at the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta are regarded as the largest single mangrove jungle of the world transcending the political boundaries of India and Bangladesh and occupying a total of 10,000 km 2 . The portion falling in India occupies over 4,170 km 2 (23,400 ha). The total approximate area of Sunderbans estuarine waters is 2,340 km 2 . The main Hooghly estuary is a positive estuary. It has an approximately triangular wide mouth and, probably, due to the strong scouring action of the stream as well as tidal currents, a greater overall circulation is maintained. The tidal influence can be realised up to a distance of 290 km from the sea. Fish and Fisheries Among the estuaries of India, Hooghly-Matlah estuarine system provides one of the richest grounds for fishery in India. About 130 s...