India is bestowed with a wealth of wetlands due to wide variation of climatic and topographical features. Wetlands are amongst the most productive life support systems in the world and are of immense socio-economic importance by providing food, fodder, fuel and water for domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes. Two eastern states viz. Assam & Bihar are endowed with copious aquatic wealth in the form of wetlands, swamps, ponds and rivers. The floodplain wetlands (beels) extending over one lakh hectare, constitute the most important fishery resource of the Assam and more than 50000 ha in Bihar. These wetlands are considered as one of the most productive ecosystems owing to their characteristic interactions between land and water system. Livelihood of fishers’ family from time immemorial is dependent upon fishing in floodplain wetlands. The floodplain wetlands are used as multiple uses and multiple user system. These wetlands are the common property resource and under different management regimes. Multiple institutions play its role through ownership and control over the fisheries of wetlands. A large number of stakeholders are associated directly and indirectly with the Wetlands, these include fishers, lessees, various state government departments, Fisheries development corporations, financial institutions, research institutes, NGO’s etc. These wetlands are under various management regimes, i.e., private management (individuals and groups), fishermen cooperative management, Community-based fisheries management (decentralized management, Government works as facilitator) and open access. The leasing period for cooperative as well as individual fishers was seven years in Assam; and ten years in Bihar under Maun Chaur Vikash Yojana. An attempt has been made through this communication to describe management regimes and institutional arrangement in the frame work of stakeholders’ mechanism of access to utilize the floodplain wetland resources for outcomes (positive or negative). Two wetlands Haribhanga in Assam and Amuwa in Bihar were taken as a case study for institutional arrangement and management regime. This communication also discuss about the sharing arrangement in the private managed wetlands
