Gulf of Mannar in the southeast coast of India extends from Rameswaram Island in the north to\ud
Kanyakumari in the south. It has a chain of 21 islands stretching from Mandapam to Tuticorin to a distance\ud
of 140 km along the coast. Each one of the islands is located anywhere between 2 and 10 km from the\ud
mainland. The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve was set up on 18th February 1989 jointly by the\ud
Government of India and the state of Tamilnadu. The government of Tamilnadu in G.O. M.S. No 962 dated 10th\ud
September 1986 notified under section 35(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 the intention to declare\ud
the 21 islands as Marine National Park for the purpose of protecting marine wildlife and its environment\ud
including depths of 3.5 fathoms on the bay side to 5 fathoms on the seaward side.\ud
The compilation of all available scientific literature in the form of an annotated bibliography of the Gulf\ud
of Mannar biosphere reserve has brought to light the existence of nearly 3,000 publications up to date. This\ud
covers the literature published from as early as 1864 to the current year. A large number of publications in\ud
the first half of the 20th century have brought out information on the variety of fauna and flora found in the\ud
Gulf of Mannar, their biology and ecology. A lot of emphasis on the fish and fisheries research has been\ud
given only in the second half of the 20th century. Emphasis is being given on biochemical aspects of flora and\ud
fauna in the later part of the 20th century and at present