Impact of Environmental Change on Fish and Fisheries in Warna River Basin, Western Ghats, India

Abstract

The Western Ghats mountain range region in India is known for high biological diversity and endemism. Freshwater species on average are more endanger than terrestrial species. The Western Ghats are characterized by high fish taxonomic diversity. The study mainly focuses on the present status of the fish diversity, fishing activity and socioeconomic status of traditional fishermen community in Warna a tributary of River Krishna in its upper catchment in the Western Ghats region of south Maharashtra. The present fish diversity belonged to 4 orders, 10 families, 30 genera and 42 species. In Warna basin riverine ecosystems and fishing activity in the basin is increasingly influenced by anthropogenic activities. The major environmental impacts on fisheries are due to change in land use pattern, transformation in river flow regime, riparian habitat loss, invasion of exotic species, over fishing and agricultural expansion.