Ribandar salterns are located on the banks of the river Mandovi, surrounded by mangrove vegetation in the adjoining marshy area. These salt pans cover an area about 12 dm2 and lie between the cities of Panaji and Old Goa (Figure 1). Ribandar experiences tropical monsoon climate with maximum temperature around 30-36°C in summer and minimum around 20-28°C in winter. This region receives a heavy monsoon rainfall averaging around 300 cm. The salt pans are located at 9 ft above sea level and experience strong coastal winds during summer facilitating the evaporation of water in salterns. The salt pans are surrounded by raised mud borders called as bunds (dykes). These bunds help in containing the sea water within the pan. The sluice gate at the inlet regulates the inflow of water from the Mandovi estuary ( Additional file 1: Figure S1, supplementary data). The salterns are seeded with crude salt to speed up the crystallization process. During April and May the salt is harvested daily from these salterns.