VEMBANAD LAKE & ANNUAL FISH COUNT

                                          VEMBANAD LAKE & ANNUAL FISH COUNT

The fourth annual fish count in the Vembanad   Lake on Thursday revealed an alarming fall in aquatic life in the ecologically fragile lake and a steadily deteriorating biodiversity. The count, organised this year by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment found 45 species of crustaceans and molluscs, including shrimp, the lowest figure since the surveys began.
  The 2010 count had found 53 species of fin fish and 14 species of crustaceans and molluscs, which was again a fall from the 2009 figure of 61 species of fish and 14 species of the latter.

  In 2008,the figures were 50 and 10, respectively. The fish count, along with which a water quality analysis was done, reasoned that the absence of salinity in the lake water,owing to the shutters of the Thanneermukkom barrage, was a major factor leading to the deterioration of the lake's biodiversity. The lake could thus support only freshwater fish species.
   The continuing pollution of the lake was a crucial negative factor, the organisers felt, pointing out that man-made hindrances such as the barrage had affected the lake, affecting its biodiversity. Pollution was alarmingly increasing with little done to curb it, and there was a continuing deterioration of mangroves again leading to a negative impact on the environment.


                                                                                                                 Prof.John Kurakar