The book, Practical Manual of Fisheries is contemplated to fulfil the long standing needs to guide the fisheries work in field studies. The book starts with the standard statistical methods required to conduct fish culture experiments for testing a hypothesis and for presentation and interpretation of data. As a pre-requisite, evaluation and assessment of aquatic communities in a body of water, whether for experiment or for commercial fish culture is described in details, both for plant and animal communities, group wise as to the sample collection, preservation and quantitative and qualitative assessment. The fish, the ultimate end product is dealt in a separate chapter, highlighting the assessment of population, their behavior, method of collection and the bioassay techniques together with it application. The basic knowledge of fish anatomy and other physiological systems and their inventory is narrated in a chapter with the exception of fish embryology and reproduction of fish. Reproduction of different groups of fish and commercial fish breeding, methods of cultivation for optimum production is dealt in details. The knowledge on food and feeding habits of fish, various methods of analysis of their gut contents, determination of age and growth rate by examining scale and hard parts is given special emphasis in this regard. Investigations on the pollution of water bodies, the cause of fish diseases, their symptoms and prevention and control is discussed. The field study of fish population census, biological investigations of water bodies with regard to evaluation of their fish productive capacities, impoundment surveys and the creation of new fishing waters are described in details. Chemical water analysis essential for fish production together with the significance of each parameter is also mentioned in the book as a ready reconer. Special importance on the methodology on brackish water shrimp farming is given in the last chapter of the book. The manual will be useful to students, researchers and teachers in field studies.
