River or lake, India
Chilika Lake
India's largest coastal lagoon, on the Odisha coast, a brackish fishery for mullets, milkfish and prawns.
Chilika is a shallow lagoon of brackish water on the Odisha coast, joined to the Bay of Bengal by a narrow mouth. It covers roughly 900 to 1,165 square kilometres depending on the season, making it India's largest coastal lagoon. Its fishery supports well over a hundred fishing villages, and it was India's first Ramsar wetland, listed in 1981. It is also known for its Irrawaddy dolphins and winter birds.
Fresh, brackish and salt
Rivers bring fresh water into the north of the lake, while the sea enters through the mouth in the east, so salinity runs from nearly fresh to almost marine. That mix supports fish from both worlds: mullets, milkfish, barramundi, threadfins, pearlspot and catfish, as well as prawns and crabs. Many sea fish come in through the mouth as young to feed and grow before leaving again.
Reopening the mouth
By the 1990s the lagoon's mouth had silted up, salinity fell, weeds spread and fish catches dropped. In 2000 the Chilika Development Authority cut a new mouth to the sea, and catches recovered strongly in the years after, a turnaround that won international awards. Disputes continue between traditional fishing castes and others over shrimp enclosures, called gheris, which block fish movement and have been cleared by the authorities several times.
Fish of Chilika Lake
Still to be written: Flathead grey mullet, Barramundi, Green chromide, Eleutheronema tetradactylum.