This case study reviews the recent economic history of the Chilika
Lagoon small-scale fisheries and links it to its social-ecological
history. Connected to the Bay of Bengal on the south, with the
Eastern Ghats Mountain ranges forming most of its catchment
on the north and the west, Chilika is a Ramsar Site of
international conservation importance and a biodiversity hotspot
(Fig. 1). Some rare, vulnerable, and endangered species listed on
the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)
Red List of threatened animals inhabit the lagoon. It is the largest
wintering ground for migratory waterfowl found anywhere on the
Indian subcontinent and home to Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella
brevirostris). The total number of fish species is reported to be
more than 225. Along with a variety of phytoplankton, algae, and
aquatic plants, the lagoon region also supports over 350 species
of nonaquatic plants. A phytodiversity survey has identified 710
plants in Chilika (Pattnaik 2003). A survey of the fauna carried
out by the Zoological Survey of India in 1985-87 recorded over
800 species in and around the lagoon. This list includes a number
of rare, threatened, and endangered species, including the
Barkudia limbless skink