The windowpane oyster resources of Kakinada Bay

Among the commercially exploited bivalve mollmcs in India \nthe windowpane oyster Placenta placenta (Uniiaeus) (Talapu gulla \nin Telugu) is next in importance to the clams in quantitative abundance. \nA major fishery for this species exists in the Kakinada Bay \nwhere the annual production is about 50001. Production is about \n1500 t/year of empty shells in the Kndhara Bay in the Gulf of Kutch \nand about 350 t/year in Naukim Bay at Goa. In the fishery at \nKakinada Bay about 300 plank-built boats are deployed. This \nspecies occurs in stray numbers at several other centres along the \nIndian Coast. Considerable quantities of the shell are also \ncollected from the subsoil deposits, particularly from the Vembanad \nLake in Kerala State.