Distribution and exploitation of oyster resources along the southeast and southwest coasts of India

Abstract

The oysters are sedentary bivalve molluscs which are gregarious and found in aggregates attached by their right shell valve to hard substrata, forming oyster beds or oyster banks in varied environments, intertidal and subtidal zones in shallow coastal waters, bays, creeks, lagoons, backwaters and estuarine environment. In India, natural stocks of oysters are exploited on a small scale at a number of places as a subsistence fishery and oysters are not cultured commercially.