The transfer of fish seed from the hatchery or place of collection to the rearing pond is called transport of fish seed. The seed fish include fry and fingerlings.

1. TRANSPORTATION OF FISH SEED
SUBMITTED BY – ANURADHA NASKAR
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY AND APPLIED AQUACULTURE
BARKATULLAH UNIVERSITY
BHOPAL, MADHYA PRADESH, 462026

2. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION.
• GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR FISH SEED TRANSPORTATION.
• CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN TIME OF FISH SEED TRANSPORTATION.
• METHODS OF PACKING AND TRANSPORTATION.
• OXYGEN REQUIREMENT.
• CONCLUSION.
• REFERENCES.

3. INTRODUCTION
• The transfer of fish seed from the hatchery or place of collection to the
rearing pond is called transport of fish seed.
• The seed fish include fry and fingerlings.
• Mortality is the major problem of traditional transport system of fish fry, due
to accumulation of toxic wastes such as ammonia, decrease in pH due to
increase of CO2, depletion of O2 in the water, thermal tolerance
hyperactivity, stress and tiredness of the fry and infection contracted during
transportation.
• Formerly seed fishes were transport only for short distances with a duration
of maximum of 8 hours.
• Now seed fishes are transported through train, air and ship.

4. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR FISH SEED TRANSPOTATION
• Transportation early in the morning is better (cool hour).
• The water used in transportation should be cool and clean.
• Number of fish seeds per transportation unit should be maintained.
• Oxygen packing is the best method of transportation.
• Care should be taken so that no direct sunlight falls in the packing bags during
transportation.
• The seed packing bags should be covered with the wet gunny bags. So that,
temperature of the seed packing bags will be maintained low.
• Physiological requirement of fish seed is presence of high DO and less CO2
concentration, temperature is maintained 22-23°c and required pH is 7.5-8.5.

5. CAUSES OF MORTALITY DURING TRANSPORTATION
• Depletion of dissolved oxygen in ambient water due to the respiration of fish
and also due to oxidation of any organic matter (BOD load), including
excreted waste of the fish by micro-organisms.
• Accumulation of free carbon dioxide, resulting from respiration and ammonia
as excretory end product.
• Sudden fluctuation in temperature.
• Hyperactivity and stress due to handling.
• Ion-osmotic imbalance due to stress.
• Physical injury due to handling before transport and during transport.

6. METHODS OF PACKING AND TRANSPORTATION
Transport system are of two types :
a) Open system comprising open carries, with or without artificial
aeration/oxygenation/water circulation.
b) Closed system having sealed air tight carries with oxygen.

7. OPEN SYSTEM
• The simplest transport carries is the earthen vessel, such as the traditional
“HUNDI” used in Bengal in India.
• Open packing system for transport of fish seed is going out of fashion mainly
because it involves continuous vigilance and frequent renewal of water during
long journeys.
• Galvanized iron drums of 180 L capacity, and open canvas containers ( 1 m X 1 m
X 1.25 m) have been used successfully in transporting breeders.
• The galvanized iron drums are provided with an opening of 48 m X 30 cm along
the main body of the container for introduction of fingerlings and larger fish.
• The drums is often lined inside with foam rubber to avoid injury to the buffering
fish during transport.
• Recently plastic pools (250 liters and other sizes) have also been used for
transporting fish.

8. Advantages :- The earthen HUNDI is now being replaced by
aluminium vessels which are unbreakable, but the
earthen hundies have the advantages that they
keep the temperature of the water inside cool by
means of evaporative cooling.
Disadvantages :- 1) The seed get heavily stressed.
2) It suffer mortality during transport or
soon after stocking.

9. Open system

10. CLOSED SYSTEM
 In this system the water surface is exposed to compressed air or pure oxygen
introduced to fill the zone over the water surface in the carriers.
 In a metal container of galvanized iron (45 X 35 X 35 cm) with two airtight
openings, one to let in oxygen and other to let out water.
 100-200 fingerlings of 7-10 cm, or 30-40 fingerlings of 13-20 cm length can be
transported for a journey of 12 hours.
 18 liter tins with airtight screw-capped lids for filling and provided with tubes
for drawing in oxygen and letting out water, have been used in CIFRI,
Barrackpore, for transporting 1000 fry of 1-2 cm length during a 20 hour
journey.

12. • Oxygen requirement ranges from 100-1100 mg/kg/hours.
• Oxygen consumption is not a standard value.
• It depends largely on fish species, size of fish, physiological condition of
individual and on several environmental factors.
OXYGEN REQUIREMENT

13. CONCLUSION
 Fish seed needs intensive care for transportation.
 Any types of mishandling may lead to the loss.
 So, we need to stay very attentive at the time of transportation.
 A fish farmer must be very familiar with the principles technique and
practice of fish transportation.
 The aim of transportation is to provide healthy live fish at the destination.
 Almost any clean and water proof container is to be used.
 Doing of all works successfully help us to make profit in future.

14. REFERENCES
1. Aquaculture and Fisheries – Dr. N. Arumugam.
2. An Introduction to Fishes – S. S. Khanna.
3. A text book of Fishery Science and Indian Fishery – C. B. L. Srivastava.
4. Internet.