Zooplankton Studies in the Indian Ocean
255
which numerically form nearly 70% of the total samples, ostracods, chaetognaths,
euphausids, thecosomates and the rest.
The pattern of distribution of the major components of zooplankton including fish
eggs and larvae clearly indicates that some of the Indian Ocean areas, such as Saudi Arabia
and the Somalia coasts and the head of the Bay of Bengal are extraordinarily productive
and the question uppermost in our minds is how much of this secondary production
gets converted into exploitable resources of fish and how much of it goes to waste.
PRUTER (1964) and PRASAD (1966) have discussed the potential yield of fisheries in the
Indian Ocean. PRASAD estimates that the level of organic production in the Arabian Sea
is at least 3 times that of the Bay of Bengal and in the actual fish yield the former is
2.4 times more than the latter. Such estimates are not possible for other areas of the
Indian Ocean for want of sufficient data. However, it should be noted that rich patches
of zooplankton occur at many places in the Indian Ocean as indicated by the lOBe
samples.
255
which numerically form nearly 70% of the total samples, ostracods, chaetognaths,
euphausids, thecosomates and the rest.
The pattern of distribution of the major components of zooplankton including fish
eggs and larvae clearly indicates that some of the Indian Ocean areas, such as Saudi Arabia
and the Somalia coasts and the head of the Bay of Bengal are extraordinarily productive
and the question uppermost in our minds is how much of this secondary production
gets converted into exploitable resources of fish and how much of it goes to waste.
PRUTER (1964) and PRASAD (1966) have discussed the potential yield of fisheries in the
Indian Ocean. PRASAD estimates that the level of organic production in the Arabian Sea
is at least 3 times that of the Bay of Bengal and in the actual fish yield the former is
2.4 times more than the latter. Such estimates are not possible for other areas of the
Indian Ocean for want of sufficient data. However, it should be noted that rich patches
of zooplankton occur at many places in the Indian Ocean as indicated by the lOBe
samples.