Ecological and Institutional Analysis of Inland Fisheries Resource Management: Productivity in the Case of Tawa Reservoir, India

Abstract

"Fishing in inland water bodies such as flood plain lakes, river, estuaries and reservoirs, has an important role for rural people. Fish is an important source of protein diet of many households and generate significant income as well as provide employment opportunities. 70 percent of the 0.71 million active fisher folks in India are employed in the inland fisheries and India has a total of 19,370 reservoir units covering an area of 31, 53,366 hectares, hence creates a lot of opportunities for economic development of the rural people. Reservoir fisheries are classic case of Common Pool Resources (CPRS) and hence require comprehensive institutional arrangement that can ensure productivity of the fish resources without compromising with the ecological needs. Therefore, through the case of Tawa reservoir, we are trying to understand the fisheries resource and the production scenario. Tawa reservoir has undergone operation through different management regime, and hence, provides an opportunity to comprehend the performance of these regimes and their implications on fisheries resources. In this paper, our attempt is therefore, to understand the dynamics of the fisheries resource of Tawa reservoir. With the limited available data, we analyse the catch and stocking relationship, predator- prey relationship and also to identify the determinants that influence the productivity of the Tawa reservoir. Based on the time-series data available a model was developed to determine the production possibility of the fish resource in Tawa. Our finding suggests that among different regimes existed in Tawa fisheries management, the cooperative form under Tawa Matsya Sangha (TMS)'s performance is better."