Indian Journal of Ecology

With the advent of satellite oceanography, environmental and oceanographic variables like Chlorophyll a, rainfall can be estimated on a scale not possible before. The objective of this study, is to investigate the relationship between the total annual marine catch of West Bengal of the last 20 years and these three important variables, coastal rainfall, Chlorophyll a and sea surface temperature. The relevant independent variables are rainfall for the months of May to August, Chl a for the months of November to December, and sea surface temperature for the months July to December. The study has found significant statistical correlations between the annual marine landings of West Bengal and the above mentioned parameters. Both Chlorophyll a and rainfall have been found to have significant statistical correlations with annual catch.