The river Mahe runs for a distance of about 2 kms  in Mahe region before it joins the Arabian sea. The fishery of this portion of the river comprises mostly of estuarine varieties and forms only a small portion of the total fish production of the region. The coastline here lies between the richest fishing belt between Ponnani and Mangalore on the west-coast. It brings a rich harvest of pelagic fishery.

Mahe is at the centre of a prawn ground which stretches from Quilon to Mangalore. The mahe catches are purchased by the Tellicherry merchants and taken to Kozhikode and Cochin for further processing. The major fish marketing centres in and around Mahe are Mahe, Cannanore, Kozhikode and Tellicherry. Prior to 1961, the fishermen used to cure fish in their huts under very unhygienic conditions and a result of which the cured fish has always been found to be dirty, ill-dried and smelling. However, subsequently a fish curing yard was established in Mahe, thereby enabling scientific curing of fish varieties.

Industries:

Industrial units have concentration only in Pondicherry and Karaikal. Mahe has only a very few of them. The only large scale industry functioning in this region is the Cannanore spinning and weaving mills. There are many small scale industries in Mahe providing employment.

Trade and Export:

Cotton yarn are manufactured and exported from the towns. A small quantity of fish is also exported from Mahe. Liquor is imported into the towns.