Aqua times magazine

Globalization of
SPF White Shrimp

HONORARY ADVISOR
Dr.S.Ayyappan
Director-General
Indian Council of Agricultural Research
New Delhi India
ADVISORY BOARD
Dr.Jim Wyban
Consultant at H2A2 Prawns Ltd, USA
Dr. W.S.Lakra
Director
Central Institute of Fisheries Education
Mumbai India
Dr. P. Jayasankar
Director
Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture
Bhubaneswar India
Dr. Iddya Karunasagar
Senior Fishery Industry Officer
Food and Agricultural Organisation
Rome Italy
Dr. J. K. Jena
Director
National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources
Lucknow India
Dr. A. K .Singh
Director
Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research
Nainital India
Dr.K.K.Vijayan
Director
Central Institute of Brackish Water Aquaculture
Chennai India
Prof. K.R.S.Sambasiva Rao
Editor-in-Chief
Mr. V.Siva Prasad
Managing Editor
Dr. P.Jaganmohan Rao
Executive Editor
Dr.A.Devivaraprasad Reddy
Assistant Editor
Prof.S.V.Sharma Vijayawada
Dr.K.Veeraiah Guntur
Dr.P.V.Krishna Guntur
Dr.K.Sumanth Kumar Guntur
Dr.V.Venkata Ratnamma Guntur
Dr.N.Gopala Rao Guntur
Prof.P.Hari Babu Nellore
Dr.P.Padmavathi Guntur
Dr.G.Simhachalam Guntur
Dr.K.Sunita Guntur
Dr.M.Jagadesh Naik Guntur
ADVISORY AND
EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITORIAL
TEAM

ISSN: 2394-398X
Vol. 1
Issue 1
JULY - AUGUST 2015
Globalization of SPF White Shrimp -
Jim Wyban
Aquaculture and Marine
Biotechnology: A Future for India
Arun S. Ninawe
Cold water Fisheries in India :
Issues and challenges
A.K.Singh and S.Ali
Diversification of Freshwater
Aquaculture- Propagation of Tilapia
Culture in Andhra Pradesh
P.Ram Mohan and T.V. Bharathi
Ornamental Fish Farming for
Entrepreneurship Development
P.Jayasankar and S.K.Swain
Multidimensional Role and the Way
Forward for Aquaculture in National
Development
S.Felix and P.Antony Jesu Prabhu
Potential Anti-Viral Properties of
Phytochemicals against Shrimp
Diseases
DSD Suman Joshi and A Krishna
Satya
Sudden Drop in Ground water
Levels Leading to increased Calcium
P. Jaganmohan rao, Aruna Kumari
and Latha kumari
Farmers Guide
Husbandry Practices in Trout
Culture
Salman Rauoof Chalkoo
Cautions in using Organic Raw
Manures in Fresh water Fish
Culture: Effective and Cost
Effective usage of Mature
Organic Manures in Aquaculture
Jalagum Krishna Prasad
Feeds and Feeding in
Aquaculture
P.V. Rangacharyulu and Ramesh
Rathod
Probiotics -
A Boon for Aquaculture
A. Balasubramanian and
T. Suguna
Ammonia in Culture Pond water
its Formation and Impact on
Culture Organisms
S.V. Sharma
Career in Aquaculture
News
Expert Reviews
06
SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES
POPULAR ARTICLES
EVENTS
35
32
10
3714
39
19
21
44
24 41
45
48
57
27
28
30
Aquaculture plays an important role in providing food
and income to many developing countries, either as a
stand-alone activity or as an integrated farming activity.
Aquaculture going to face many challenges over the next
decade,notably,combatingdiseasesandepizootics,brood-
stock improvement and domestication, development of
appropriate feeds and feeding mechanisms, hatchery
and grow-out technology, as well as water-quality
management. Biotechnology encompass a wide range of
approaches that can improve subsistence and commercial
aquaculture production and management.
Present day aquaculture is being eroded each day due to
unending anthropogenic stress. Thus there is a dire need
for proper investigation and documentation of imprint
genes with an innovative scientific molecular biology
based techniques for the development of aquaculture.
Aquaculture genetics shows immense potential for
enhancing the production in a way that meets aquaculture
development goals for the new millennium. In present
scenario, apart from the morphological studies, novel
genetic and molecular studies have gained immense value
in identifying the aquatic animal diseases and also protect
the genomic imprints of the aquatic animals.
Molecular techniques can create a pioneering focus
on the cultivation of high-yield and stress-resistant
varieties, detecting and preventing diseases as well as
the development of new types of breeding for embryonic
development and epigenetic modifications of DNA occur
through various processes and are assumed to facilitate
differentiation into specific cell types. Once widespread,
this system will revolutionize as biological information to
get familiarized with the species diversity. Aquatic species
that are endangered, need identification for evolving a
strategy for their conservation. This imprint technology
may help the farmers and traders to improve the quality
of aquatic animals with free of diseases with native genes.
Aquaculture developments can have profound influence
on human health due to the increased prevalence new
diseases. Aquaculture can make efficient use of scarce
resources, however conflicts may arise between different
water users. It is consequently important to balance the
positive and negative effects when establishing new
technologyandaquaculturesystems.Themainobjectiveof
Aquaculture Times magazine, is to address the problems
of aqua farmers globally and disseminate the scientific and
farm based knowledge.
K.R.S.Sambasiva Rao

AQUACULTURE TIMES I Vol. 1(1) - 2015 I 06SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE
Globalization
of SPF
White ShrimpJim Wyban
H2A2 Prawns Ltd.,
Hong Kong and Hawaii
Introduction
Development of SPF White Shrimp in the
US in the early 1990s resulted in a doubling
of US industry production. Subsequent
introduction of SPF White Shrimp to Asia in
the late 1990s, produced dramatic increase
in shrimp production and rapid spread
through Asia. White Shrimp’s widespread
adoption in Asia tripled global shrimp
production between 2000 and 2010. By
2010, White Shrimp production accounted
for 80% of total world production and was
the dominant species farmed in China,
Thailand, and Indonesia – the world’s three
leading production countries at that time.
Recently, India has adopted White Shrimp
for farming that has resulted in a boom in
production.
Domestication of SPF White Shrimp
In the late 1980s, US shrimp farmers
were suffering a variety of serious disease
problems. Our research group at Oceanic
Institute set out to develop a disease-free
shrimp to alleviate these problems. Our
SPF program was based on developing
shrimp that were certifiably free of “listed
pathogens” which are disease-causing
microbes that can be diagnosed and can
be physically excluded from a facility. The
listed pathogens used in SPF certification
are shown in Table 1. It is interesting that
the listed shrimp pathogens in 1990 were
limited and didn’t include White Spot,
Yellow Head, Taura or IMN viruses. At that
time, there were no PCR systems available
for shrimp diagnostics. All diagnostics to
establish the first SPF stocks were done by
histopathology.
Impact of SPF White Shrimp in the U.S.
Industry
Commercial production trials comparing
SPF and non-SPF stocks were undertaken
by the US industry. In 1991, 2000 SPF
broodstock were shipped from Hawaii to
shrimp hatcheries in Hawaii, Florida, Texas
and South Carolina. Biosecurity protocols
were developed to prevent disease
introduction and produce SPF postlarvae.
More than 50 million SPF postlarvae were
produced and stocked into commercial U.S.
CATEG
ORY
PATHOGEN
TYPE
PATHOGEN ACRONYM - NAME 1990 2010
C-1 IHHNV - Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis
Virus
• •
C-2 WSSV – White Spot Syndrome Virus •
C-2 YHV, GAV, LOV – Yellow Head Virus •
C-3 Protozoa TSV – Taura Syndrome Virus •
C-3 Protozoa HPV, BPV • •
Metazoan
Parasites
MBV, MBR, BMN, IMNV • •
Microsporidians, Haplosporidians
Gregarines
Larval nematodes, trematodes, cestodes
Table 1. SPF Listed Pathogens – then and now. Pathogens used to establish the first SPF
shrimp stock are marked (•) under column 1990. Listed SPF pathogens used in 2010 are
marked under column 2010.
ponds for field trials of the SPF shrimp. SPF ponds were run
side by side with non-SPF ponds in all three farming regions.
Production results in SPF ponds were significantly better
than in non-SPF ponds in all three regions. A typical result is
illustrated by data in Table 2 comparing SPF and non-SPF
shrimp in an intensive commercial pond in Hawaii. Harvest
weight, size uniformity (CV), feed conversion (FCR), total
crop and crop value were all greater in from crop value in
both trials, the SPF crop was more than twice as profitable as
the non-SPF crop.
Based on the excellent results of pond trials in 1991, more
than 5000 SPF broodstock were produced in Kona Hawaii in
1992 and supplied to US hatcheries. More than 200 million
SPF postlarvae were produced from the SPF broodstock and
stocked into commercial ponds in the three shrimp culture
regions of the U.S. Virtually all shrimp ponds in the US were
stocked with SPF PL in 1992. Total production of the US
industry doubled as a direct result of this innovation.
Table2.ComparisonofSPFvsnon-SPFshrimpinacommercial
intensive system in Hawaii (1991).
These dramatic gains in production from use of SPF shrimp
were experienced in all three shrimp production regions of
the U.S. in many different environments and using a variety
of technologies and stocking densities. Use of SPF shrimp
in commercial farms increased production and survival,
improved FCR and narrowed harvest size distribution. Each
of these improvements contributed to increased profitability.
In addition to increased production, use of SPF shrimp
reduced incidence of shrimp disease. There was unanimous
opinion among U.S. farmers that the tremendous profitability
experienced in 1992 was due to use of SPF stocks!
Globalization of SPF White Shrimp
SPF White Shrimp broodstock were first shipped to Taiwan
in 1996. By 1997, the hatchery was producing substantial
quantities of PL and distributing them throughout Taiwan.
By August, farmers who stocked White ShrimpPL had great
harvests – they made lots of money and news of the White
Shrimp jackpot reached the front page of the national
newspaper. Urgent demands for White Shrimp broodstock
deluged Hawaii shrimp farmers. The Taiwan White Shrimp
craze continued at a fevered pitch through the winter and
spring of ‘98. It was widely agreed that introduction and
success with SPF White Shrimp was the most exciting news in
Taiwan shrimp farming since the collapse of their P. monodon
industry in 1989 (Liao, pers. com.).
Thailand’s Shrimp Revolution
Thailand starting farming shrimp in the 1970s, using locally
available P. monodon broodstock captured from the sea to
produce PL in land-based hatcheries for pond stocking. By
the early 1990s, Thailand emerged as the world’s leading
farmed shrimp producer and exporter based on P. monodon
production.
In the 1990s, disease problems increased risks and slowed
industry expansion. Yellow head and white spot viruses
severely impacted production. Government-sponsored
research and extension helped the industry adjust and
manage around these diseases. These viruses were most
often introduced through the wild broodstock supply.
Despite these problems, the Thai industry maintained its
positionasthenumber1shrimpproducer.In2001,Thailand’s
P. monodon production peaked at 280,000 MT.
Fig.2 Annual shrimp production in Thailand comparing Black
Tiger and White Shrimp.
By 2001, Thai farmers faced a new disease called Monodon
Slow Growth Syndrome (MSGS), characterized by slow
growth leading to smaller harvest size and lower prices.
The cause of MSGS is still unknown. This slow growth
problem with P. monodon set the stage for SPF White Shrimp
introduction. Farmers were looking for a lower risk, more
reliable way to make money farming shrimp.
NON-SPF SPF
Stocking Density (PL/m2
) 97 90
Duration (days) 101 104
Survival (%) 86 90
Mean Weight(g) 8.5 11.8
CV (%) 38 9
FCR 3.37:1 2.1:1
Total Crop (kg) 1,424 1,937
Crop Value $12,507 $20,326
Crop less feed costs $7,228 $15,852
Fig1. L.vannamei broodstock

Limited SPF White Shrimp broodstock imports were
first tested in 2001. Results were impressive with stable,
consistent results; high survivals and fast growth to 20 g in
100 days with uniform size distribution at harvest (2-3 size
classes). The SPF shrimp were tolerant to higher densities
than P. monodon – up to 2.5 kg/m2
and there were lower
incidences of mass mortalities. The industry lobbied to allow
more broodstock imports in 2002. More farm trials followed
and 2002 also saw tests of “homegrown” or “F1 broodstock”.
Farmers soon found that most growth and production
advantages of true SPF White Shrimp were lost using “home
grown or F1” broodstock. Slower growth and large size
variationandmorediseaseeventsweretypicallyexperienced
with F1 stocks. White Shrimp production in 2002 jumped to
20,000 MT. Figure 4 illustrates the rapid increase in White
Shrimp production (white bars) between 2002 and 2006
while P. monodon production (black bars) rapidly declined.
By 2009, White Shrimp represented over 98% of total
production and total production reached 600,000 MT more
than double the previous peak in Black Tiger production.
Progressive Thai farmers were producing 20-30 MT/Ha/
crop using SPF White Shrimp. Table 3 compares the relative
production numbers and profits between species in Thai
shrimp farms. These data clearly show the driving force of
Thailand’s change from farming Black Tiger to White Shrimp
is the superior production economics with White Shrimp.
Crop value and profits ($/ha) with White Shrimp are 2-3
times greater than with Black Tiger. Reliability of production
(avoidance of disease) is also higher with SPF White Shrimp.
White Shrimp Advantages
AkeyissueinunderstandingtherapidspreadofWhiteShrimp
through Asia is to understand the specific advantages White
Shrimp enjoys compared to Black Tiger in shrimp farming.
Several important factors of biology that strongly favor
White Shrimp for farming include: White Shrimp nutritional
requirementsarelessexpensivetosatisfy.Lowerproteinfeed
canbeusedwithWhiteShrimp.Further,WhiteShrimpgreatly
benefits from pond ecosystem- generated food. While not
well understood, White Shrimp’s feeding behavior and waste
metabolism generates a healthy “nutritious” ecosystem that
actually supplements White Shrimp growth. A second key
factor is White Shrimp is amenable to high stocking densities.
This is some what dependent on the ecosystem factor but is
also a result of White Shrimp’s behavior. Domestication has
played an important role in this behavior. Recent trials in
super-intensive culture in the US have successfully reared
White Shrimp at stocking densities over 800 PL/m2
.
Shrimp Farming Eras
Shrimp farming’s long and colorful history can be divided into
three distinct eras (Table 4 and Figure 5). During the “Wild PL
Era” nearly all stocking material was wild PL gathered from
the sea. In each hemisphere, shrimp farming was based on
use of native species. In Asia, the industry was dominated
by Black Tiger while in the West, the industry used White
Shrimp. During this era, annual production increased rapidly
(~100%/year). Growth was driven by very strong market
acceptance and demand for farmed shrimp product and
a relative absence of disease which allowed simple pond
culture methods to succeed.
The second Era in shrimp farming is the “Hatchery PL Era”
(1988-96). In this phase, post larvae were produced in land-
based hatcheries. While cultured, these PL were genetically
wild animals because the parents were wildcaught brood
stock gathered from the sea. During this era, shrimp farming
in each hemisphere continued to use native species. The
West was dominated by White Shrimp while Asian shrimp
farming was based on Black Tigers. Asian shrimp production
was at least five times greater than Western production
throughout this era so global production statistics in this
era were dominated by P. monodon. During the Hatchery
PL Era, total world production only increased from 604 to
Fig.4 Annual production of L.vannamei (in MT)
693 thousand MT resulting in an average annual gain of just
2%/yr. Thus there was very little industry growth during
this era compared to the Start-up Era. The main obstacle to
growth in this era was widespread shrimp disease. These
diseases were largely spread through the industry with the
hatchery- produced PL because the hatcheries paid little or
no attention to animal biosecurity. Diseases carried by wild
sourced broodstock were passed to the PL offspring in the
hatcheries and then transferred to the farms with the PL.
The other obstacle to growth in this era was the continued
use of wild animals. Shrimp farming production during the
Hatchery PL Era reached a “carrying capacity” for use of wild,
non-domesticated, non-SPF animals. While farmers tried
increasing stocking densities to increase yields and profits,
their use of wild animals precluded these attempts and
prevented industry growth.
The third era of shrimp farming is the “SPF White Shrimp
Era”. From 1996 to 2010, industry production grew from
about 700,000 MT to 3.5 MMT with sustained annual
growth of more than 20% per year. This rapid growth was
primarily driven by the domestication, breeding and rapid
adoption of White Shrimp in Asia. China, Indonesia, Vietnam
and India are the four leading shrimp farming nations of the
world. Thailand’s dramatic shift from Black Tigers to White
Shrimp may best illustrate this Asian transformation. It is
characterized by the use of domesticated White Shrimp bred
for faster growth and disease resistance. As domesticated
animals they are far more accommodated to culture systems.
The single biggest factor contributing to the rapid increase in
production is the domestication, breeding and widespread
use of White Shrimp as species of choice for farming.
Table 3. Shrimp Farming Eras
ANNUAL
PRODUCTION
(000 MT)
GROWTH
RATE
Era
Name
Years Start Finish Gain (%/yr)
Wild PL 1982-
88
84 604 520 103%
Hatchery
PL
1988-
96
604 693 89 2%
SPF
White
Shrimp
1996-
2010
693 3500 2807 20%
EMS 2010-?? 3500 2700 -800 -7%
The fourth Era is “EMS Era”. This vibrio-caused disease has
reeked havoc throughout the Asian industry with heavy
losses in Vietnam, China and Thailand. While SPF stocks are
part of the solution to the EMS problem, system biosecurity
and husbandry systems need to be upgraded to overcome
this problem.
Economic Impact and the Future
Widespread adoption of SPF White Shrimp has significantly
improved the economics and reliability of shrimp farming.
The driving force in Asia’s switch to White Shrimp was based
on the much higher profit achieved with White Shrimp
compared to Black Tigers (Table 3).
Domestication, breeding and globalization of White Shrimp
added tremendous value to the world shrimp industry. In
the mid-90s, annual shrimp production was 700,000 MT per
year with a total crop value of about $3.5 billion based on an
average price of $5/kg. Current crop value is worth more than
$12billionwith3.5MMTat$3.50/kg.Thisismorethan3-fold
increase in industry value resulting from the domestication,
breeding and widespread use of White Shrimp. This industry
transformation is driven by White Shrimp’s lower production
costs which derive from advancing domestication coupled
with White Shrimp’s natural growth traits. White Shrimp
profitability and reliability advantages will bring more and
more farmers to use it with a goal of lowering production
costs and increasing reliability. The biggest opportunity to
lowercostsinshrimpfarmingisthroughtheuseoftopquality,
disease free (SPF) postlarvae carrying high performance
genetics cultured under optimum conditions to maximize
their growth potential.
Fig.5 L.vannamei Larvae

Aquaculture
and Marine
Bio-Technology:
A Future for
IndiaArun S. Ninawe
Department of Biotechnology,
Ministry of Science and Technology,
New Delhi-110003, India
It is considered that life has originated from the sea and
almost 70% of our planet Earth is covered with oceanic water
body. Ocean is a unique and diverse ecosystem offering
almost all living phylogenic groups comprising most ancient
and diverse life creatures. This extreme biological diversity
is the result of highly variable ocean ecosystems comprising
wide thermal range (hot hydrothermal vents and cold
Antarctica), pressure ranges (1-1000 atm), nutrient variation,
light availability, varying degrees of depth, bottom sediment
texture variability, wave actions etc. These extremities offer
possible presence of novel organisms which can be used for
developing new processes and products to meet demanding
needs in the sectors such as, food, medicine, energy. Recent
developments in the Marine biology and oceanography
reveals that there is immense potential for marine living
resources to be used as a source for food protein, energy
source and source of new drugs. As the human population
increases and the land resources diminish, our next focus will
be on these unexplored marine treasures. In future ocean will
be the source for food, energy and drugs.
Marine biotechnology is a recent area of science which is
gaining momentum in Europe, Asia and America. However
marine biotechnology is still in the infant stage when
compared to other fields of biotechnology. The unutilized
and unexplored marine resources are the important
biological sources which beneficial for industrial sectors.
In Europe, bio-economy was established which utilize a
biological resource and it estimates around 22 million
employee yields a market size of over €1.5 trillion. To
enhance the visualization of India as a knowledge-based
economy in the sectors of marine-foods and products over
the innovation driven culture demands supports from the
state of encouragement and expands research activity. The
focus of marine biotechnology was diversified with different
funding agencies such as ICAR, MOES, DRDO etc., whereas
the Department of Biotechnology is promoting this sector
encompasses a sustainable food production system and
also to develop new products and processes from marine
living resources. It is an interdisciplinary area of science
which comprises oceanography, marine biology, fisheries
and aquaculture, microbiology, cell and molecular biology,
genetics, recombinant technology, immunology, chemistry,
bioinformatics and engineering. Marine biotechnology
adopts techniques in all these disciplines for the faster
growth as an emerging area of science.
Aquaculture Breed Improvement
With the intensification of population density the land based
protein resources are getting depleted. The next focus will
be on aquatic resources. The demand for fishery resources
and products also will increase in future. As a result it leads
to the decline of capture fisheries. Many major fish stocks are
showing declining trend in productivity due to over ﬁshing.
This situation needs technologies to increase productions
as well as replenishing or increase the wiled fish stocks. To
attain this it is necessary to develop technologies to increase
fish production. In this context aquaculture can contribute
much to the increased production of fish protein. During
last decades aquaculture has grown from traditional pond
based farming into a large industry contributing to world
wide production of fisheries products. To meet efficient
aquacultureproductionmodernaquacultureneedofefficient
aquaculture production systems with high yielding and
disease resistant varieties of fishes, high health brood stock,
better disease management, and diagnostics for aquatic
pathogens, water quality management, diversification of
cultured species, efficient aquaculture nutrition. In these
directions aquaculture biotechnology can contribute a lot to
the industry.
Towards increasing production and productivity availability
of high health and high yielding varieties of fishes are
required. This can be achieved through new biotechnologies
such as transgenics, chromosome engineering (sex reversal
and polyploidy) and breeding. The generation of transgenic
fishes has been successfully done from 1980 onwards. In
many countries by using recombinant technology researches
are underway to develop genetically modified organisms
having useful traits such as fast growth, better feed
conversion ability, resistance to pathogen and temperature
salinity tolerance etc. Growth hormone transgenic has
been successfully developed for many cold water fish
species. Recently there are more attention on marker
assisted selection and breeding to develop superior traits.
Molecular markers such as QTL (Quantitative trait loci),
SNP’s (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism), RFLP (Restriction
fragment length polymorphism), Mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) Randomly Ampliﬁed Polymorphic DNA (RAPD),
Micro satellite markers and (ESTs) Expressed Sequence
Tags have been developed for many traits in both fishes and
shellfishes. Chromosome sex manipulation techniques to
induce polyploidy (triploidy and tetraploidy) and uniparental
chromosome inheritance (gynogenesis and androgenesis)
have been applied extensively in cultured fish species. There
were many success stories on sex manipulation from culture
species of fishes. Fore induced breeding of fish gonadotropin
releasing hormone and its structural analogues are widely
used.
Health Management
Disease is the major constraint to intensive aquaculture.
Aquaculture continues to grow with the problems of
disease out-breaks. Day by day the number of diseases that
casing serious threat to both cultivated species of fin fishes
and shell fishes are increasing. Major diseases of finfishes
and shellfishes are of viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic and
environmental etiology. This situation requires effective
disease management strategies that include use of precise
diagnostic techniques. Biotechnological tools are effectively
used in molecular diagnostics, development of vaccines,
immunostimulants and therapeutics and these are gaining
popularity for improving the disease resistance in fish and
shellfish species world over. Presently molecular diagnostic
techniques such as Gene Probes, PCR (Polymerase chain
reaction), LAMP (Loop mediated Isothermal Amplification)
and immunodiagnostic techniques have developed for
major species of finfishes and shellfishes. For finfishes
subunit vaccines and DNA vaccines were developed for
major diseases. However vaccine development for shell
fish diseases is still remaining unachieved. Recently various
immunostimulants such as beta glucans, levamisole and
other herbal products have developed for evoking non
specific immunity in fishes and shellfishes. Use of antibiotics
in aquaculture is restricted in aquaculture in many countries.
This has lead to use of probiotics for disease management
in aquaculture. Recently probiotics are widely used for
health management and environment management. Marine
ecosystem is a potential source of beneficial micro organisms
which can be used as probiotics.
Water Quality Management
Water quality is the key to the success of any aquaculture
production system. To enhance the production and
productivity high stocking in aquaculture is adopted which
results in deterioration of water quality and production of
organic matter. Toxic substances such are ammonia, nitrite,
H2
S and CO2
are produced. For effective water quality
management, technologies such as recirculation aquaculture
system and bio remediation are adopted. Recently bio-
remediators for ammonia and nitrite reduction and organic
matter reduction in aquaculture have been developed.
The Department of Biotechnology has supported the R&D
innovation at Cochin University of Science and Technology,
Cochin, for the development of Bioreactor: A technology
of nitrifying bioreactor for the aquaculture system which
reduces the metabolite load. The bioreactors for nitrifying
water in closed system hatcheries of penaeids and non-
penaeid prawns is being commercially used as a novel
re-circulation system for organic shrimp and prawn seed
production. The technology facilitates conversion of the
conventional open systems to closed ones with re-circulation
and has been transferred to industry for commercialization.
Fish Nutrition and Feeding
Nutrition and feeding play an essential role in the sustained
development of aquaculture and, therefore, fertilizers and
feed resources continue to dominate aquaculture needs.
Further large expansion of semi-intensive, small-scale
pond aquaculture and industrial farming required quality
feed as per the feed preference of fish species. Aquatic

animal nutrition and feeding are critical issues
for sustainable aquaculture production in both
industrialized and developing countries, e.g. nutrient
requirements of fish and their supply under practical
farming conditions, availability and supply of feed
resources and their implication on development
of aqua feeds, forecasting of demand and supply of
marineresources,andmaintenanceofenvironmental
quality and sustainability of aquaculture systems.
It is also important to understand the contribution
of naturally available food in semi-intensive
aquaculture and its role on the development of on-
farm feed management strategy in addition to the
studiesonnutritionaleffectsonimmunecompetence
and disease resistance of fish, understanding of
brood-stock and larval nutrition, role of nutrition on
fish quality, and development of regional nutritional
databases for aquaculture development. Fish
nutrition being an important area of biotechnological
importance, need to be addressed for understanding
larval feeding and nutrition of the larval fishes. Development
of new live feed organisms and improving its nutritional value
and other qualities for larval rearing is also important.
Diversification of Species
Aquaculture is the fastest growing primary production
sector. Asia dominates aquaculture production of the world,
and currently contributes 87% to the global cultured finfish
production. India is a major maritime state and an important
aquaculture country in the world. Being home for more than
10% of global fish biodiversity, India is ranking third in the
world in total fish production. While marine sector is almost
constituted by capture fisheries, aquaculture has been
the principal contributor in inland fisheries sector, with a
share of 77%. With the increase in demand for aquaculture
foods, there is need for more efficient production systems.
Though the country is rich in aquatic resources, the index of
biodiversity utilized for aquaculture is of the order of 0.13
(~85% from Indian major carps; ~ 5% air-breathing fishes;
~10% rest all species together). Hence, for the sustainability
of aquaculture, more species need to be brought into the
culture system.
Mariculture can greatly supplement marine fisheries
and given the wide spectrum of cultivable species and
technologies available, the long coastline and the favorable
climate,maricultureislikelytogenerateconsiderableinterest
amongst the coastal population. One of the milestones in the
seed production of marine finfishes was the development
of hatchery technology for commercial seed production of
sea bass (Lates calcarifer). Protocols for captive brood-stock
development, induced maturation, breeding and larval
rearing have been standardized. Technologies for a couple of
another species are presently available in the country. There
is an urgent need for developing a package of practices for
several more commercially important species (e.g. grouper,
cobia, sea bream and pearl spot).
The challenges aspects like changing climatic conditions
and sustainability of fishery due to vulnerability, adaptation
and mitigation needs to be addressed. Research issues on
water budgeting is critically being looked in to and open sea
cage farming of fishes and lobsters, hatchery production
and pond production of shrimp and Asian Seabass are being
demonstrated at several centres of East and West Coasts
of India. The feed challenges are again being examined
for different life stages of carps, shrimp and seabass and
transferred to private entrepreneurs for commercial
production. Introducing new species of fishes for culture is
therefore a challenge in aquaculture. For this biotechnology
tools to develop wild species of fishes into cultivable species
is high priority. In this context the genetic management and
conservation of natural fish stocks and gene pools through
biotechnological tools will be of great importance.
Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceuticals & Cosmetics
Over half of the pharmaceuticals which are being used today
are derived from natural products or its derivatives. More
than 2000 years ago the extracts from marine organisms
were used as medicines. The genetic diversity of marine
ecosystems is unmatchable and could be used for benefit
of humans. The diversity of chemicals produced by marine
organisms is large and is yet to be explored. These chemicals
are naturally produced by organisms and are used to defend
against predators, communicate with their neighbors, or
prevent algae and other encrusting species from growing
on top of them. Presently marine biotechnology is greatly
focusing on natural products identification, and around more
than 30000 compounds has been identified during last 40
years and this number is still increasing. Many compounds
having anti cancer, antiviral, anti parasitic, anti malarial,
Anti inflammatory properties were isolated from marine
biota. Most of these precious bio molecules are obtained
from either micro organisms or marine invertebrates
and plants. Marine invertebrates such as corals, sponges,
echinoderms, mollusks, bryozoans, tunicates are found to
be excellent source of biologically important molecules.
Some commercially available drugs derived from marine
organisms include antibiotic cephalosporine and cytostatic
cytarabine from sponges, kanic acid an insecticide from red
algae, analgesic zincototide etc. Ara-A (Anti Herpes virus)
and Ara-C (Anti tumor) are two commercial products from
sponges which are being used as pharmaceuticals. Many
products such as anticancer Yondelis from sea squirt, pain
killer Zinconotide from conus snail, anti cancer Dolastatin
from sea slug, anti cancer Bryostatin from Bryozoa, and anti
cancer Squalamine from shark are various under clinical
phases. The list is being growing and new products are added
every year. This shows the potential of marine organisms as a
source of pharmaceutical products.
Marine organisms are unique source of novel nutraceuiticals.
Various polysachrides, poly unsaturated fatty acids, anti
oxidants, vitamins, and sterols are the main compounds
used as nutraceuiticals derived from marine organisms. The
marinepolysachrideswhichareusedasnutracuiticalsinclude
glycans (Cellulose, starch, glycogen, dextran, laminaren etc),
fructans (inulin, levans, mannans and xylans), galectonurans
(pectin), alginates and chitin. Instead of nutracuitical
potential compounds such as sulfated polysachrides and
chitin shows anticoagulant, anti tumor and blood purifying
activities. In addition Sulfated polysachrides provide immune
enhancement and some poses anti HIV property also.
Marine algae and microbes are the majour source of these
marine polysachrides. Poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
in n-3 and n-6 series such as icosapentaenoic acid (EPA),
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA) are
some poly unsaturated fatty acids with parasitical as well as
nutraceuitical significance. These compounds have positive
effects on cardiac diseases, hypertension. They are also been
used to treat skin diseases and chronic inflammation. Marine
fishes are rich source of these compounds. Other than marine
fishes algae and microbes also can produce these compounds.
Marine organisms are rich source of anti oxidants and several
anti oxidants have been isolated from marine organisms.
These are carotenoids, astaxanthines, mycosporins and
dimethyle sulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and other phenolic
substances. Marine organisms contain other nutrceuiticaly
important compounds such as vitamins (vitamin B12), sterols
(clionasterol, fucosterol). These marine derived nutracuticals
also show hypocholesteromic, cardiovascular protective,
adipogenisis inhibitory, and inhibitor of fat absorption,
anti cancer, anti viral, anti bacterial and anti inflammatory
properties.
Marine ecosystems provide varieties of compounds with
cosmetic application. These compounds show anti aging, skin
protecting, anti oxidant and anti bacterial properties that
make them to be used in cosmetics. Products from marine
macro and micro algae and marine minerals were widely
used in cosmetics. Algae are richest source of vitamins and
minerals having anti aging property. Group of compounds
from a gorgonian sponge with anti-inflammatory property
known as pseudopterosins is used as an additive to prevent
irritation caused by exposure to the sun. these compounds
are included in an anti wrinkling cream. UV protecting
compounds such as mycosporin isolated from mycosporeans
could be used against erythema. Another UV protecting
compound Biopterin glucose a pigment isolated from a
marine planktonic cyanobacterium protects the skin from
the adverse effects of the UV-A radiation. This compound is
used in the formulation of sun screen cosmetics. Tocopherol,
a lipid-soluble compound, is an effective component for skin
protection. Fucoidan isolated from marine algae shown to
have anti aging, skin protecting and anti oxidant activities.
These evidences show that marine organisms provide an
excellent source for pharmasuitical, neutracuitical and
cosmetic products. However, it needs to be explored further
tofindnewandpromisingcompoundsfrommarineorganisms.
Development of HRD in Interdisciplinary Science
One of the major reasons associated with slow growth
of marine biotechnology sector is the availability of the
marine organisms and also the difficulties in maintaining
them under laboratory condition. Unlike other areas of
biotechnology Marine biotechnology is a subject of highly
interdisciplinary nature. Marine systems offer highly
diverse and tough environments such as high pressure Deep
Ocean, super cool Antarctic and Artic regions, and highly
hot hydrothermal vents. To collect and maintain organisms
from these environments there requires a good knowledge
in oceanography and requires special equipments. Good
knowledge in engineering science is required to develop
culture systems and to develop exploration equipments for
field studies. To explore marine systems to collect samples
and to conduct experiments an understanding on the
oceanographic and meteorological parameters is necessary.
This will help in planning when, where, and how to collect
samplesandconductexperimentsinmarineenvironmentThis
will also help in locating the sampling site and also to make
future studies much easier. A good knowledge on biology
and culturing of marine organisms are therefore required for
conducting laboratory experiments using marine organisms.
The area needs promotion for the development of HRD
through inter-disciplinary science to boost the aquaculture
and marine biotechnology sector.
Conclusion
Aquaculture & Marine Biotechnology is modern and fast
growing area of science in recent years. Major part of the
globe is ocean which offers highly diverse environment,
rich in biodiversity that is still remaining unexplored. It
offers a huge opportunity for developing new products and
processes. Marine biotechnologists explore ocean for finding
new drugs, new source of energy, biomaterials, industrial
products etc. Recently many promising results are coming
from this field in the form of new candidate drugs, industrial
products, source of new food, energy and other products. The
sector need to be considered a high priority area addressing
basic knowledge in the areas such as oceanography, marine
biology, ecology, fisheries and aquaculture, microbiology, cell
and molecular biology, genetics, recombinant technology,
immunology, chemistry, bioinformatics and engineering and
need to be promoted as an inter disciplinary science through
development of trained skilled manpower.

Coldwater
Fisheries in
India:
Issues and
ChallengesA.K.Singh and S.Ali
Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research,
Bhimtal-236136 (Nainital), India
Abstract
The diverse natural resource-base, wide climatic diversity
of the cold water sector harbour plentiful gene pool which
are conducive to conservation and rearing for developing
domestic market, aquaculture and growing interest of
people in eco-tourism including angling. However, emerging
anthropogenic pressure and climate change are affecting
Coldwater resources and their fisheries adversely on
flow regimes of streams, aquatic temperature of water
bodies, food chain, micro habitats and overall productivity.
Nevertheless,technologydevelopedfortheculture,breeding
and management of the economically viable cold water fish
species has a positive impact on the employment generation
and sustainable management of the aquatic resources and
their piscine fauna.
Keywords: Coldwater, resources, ecology, fish diversity,
management
Introduction
The country has significant Coldwater/ hill fishery resources
intermsofgenepoolandsomeofthembeingsuitableforfood,
sport and ornamental value extending from north western to
north-eastern Himalayan region and some parts of Western
Ghats,encompassingabouttenstates.TheColdwaternatural
resources includes around 8,243 km long streams and rivers,
20,500 ha natural lakes, 50,000 ha of reservoirs both natural
and man made and 2,500 ha brackish water lakes at high
altitude. This diverse natural resource-base, wide climatic
diversity vis-à-vis altitude are conducive to conserve and
rear different fish species, developing domestic market for
high value fish and growing interest of people in eco-tourism
including angling within and outside the country.
The present exploitation of fishery resources in upland
regions comes mainly from capture fisheries, though fish
production through culture practices is gaining momentum.
At present the total fish production from upland areas
contributes about 3% of total inland fish production of
India. The low contribution to the total fish production is
attributable to several constraints such as low productivity
of upland waters, comparatively slow growth rate in almost
all fish species, low fecundity in fishes and poor landing and
marketing facility. The Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries
Research (DCFR) being a nodal agency is working since last
three decades to overcome many such problems and have
achieved manifold success in the management of fish genetic
diversity and establishment of aquaculture in the hill regions
of India.
Himalayan Ecology
The Indian Himalayan region spreading between 210
57’ – 370
5’ N latitudes and 720
40’ – 970
25’ E longitudes
with 250-300 km across stretches over 2,500 km from
Jammu & Kashmir in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the
east. These mountainous region covering partially or fully
twelve states of India, viz., Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and hills of Assam
& West Bengal. The region has a total geographical area of
about 5,33,604 km2
being inhabited by 3,96,28,311 people,
representing about 16.2% of total area and 3.86% of total
population of India, respectively. The region is vast, uneven
and versatile inhabiting rich biological floral and faunal
diversity. These areas are broadly divided into eastern
Himalaya, central Himalaya and western Himalaya, each of
these having different physiography and faunal diversity.
Topographically from South to North Himalayas is divided
into four parallel & longitudinal mountain belts (Table 1).
Aquatic Resources
The agro-climatic zones in the Indian Himalayan region is
based on the altitudinal gradient, which are broadly classified
as warm sub-tropical (<800m) to arctic zone (> 3,600m).
Table: 1. Major division of the Himalayan region
The Indian Himalayan region has vast fresh water resources
primarily in its streams, rivers, lakes and glaciers. The
region yields about 500 cm3
water every year. Fluctuations
in snow and ice cover are responsible for climate and
hydrological variation to a great extent. The Himalayan
The Greater
Himalayas (Himadri)
Longest and continuous, mostly
north part of Nepal and parts of
Sikkim. Average altitude of about
6100 m (20,000 ft) asl.
Lesser Himalayas
(Himanchal)
In the south and north of Siwalik.
Average altitude ranging from
3700m (12,000) - 4500m (15,000
ft) asl.
Siwalik
(Outer Himalaya)
Siwalik is the lowest and
narrowest section of Himalaya.
Average altitude about 900m
(3000ft) to 1200m (4000 feet) asl.
Trans-Himalayas Stretches across Himalaya from
West to East for about 1,000 km.
Average altitude varies from 4500
to 6600 m asl.
AQUACULTURE TIMES I Vol. 1(1) - 2015 I 14SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE AQUACULTURE TIMES I Vol. 1(1) - 2015 I 15SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE
Mountain Fisheries
On a global level, mountains are the world’s largest
repositories of biological diversity. Mountain regions are
characterized by the presence of cold waters, many of which
harbour fish and support largely subsistence fisheries. The
farming or husbandry of trout has a relatively long history
in Europe and North America. In the Indian Sub-continent
two main types of trouts viz. brown trout (Salmo trutta fario)
and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)) were
transplanted from Europe by British settlers around the
beginning of the last century primarily to meet their needs
for sport fishing or recreational angling. The transplantation
of brown and rainbow trout was attempted independently
in the Himalayan and in the non-Himalayan States. In
the Himalayan States the brown trout (Salmo trutta fario
Linnaeus) was first brought in Kashmir through the private
efforts of F.J. Mitchell in 1899. These introductions in the
hill states could be considered as the formal beginning of
Coldwater fisheries or mountain fisheries development in
India. For many decades the mere intention remained to
develop recreational fisheries to satisfy the needs of anglers
forsports.Lateron,thesespecieswerestartedbeingcultured
forfoodandhatcheriesweresetupfortheproductionofseed.
The development of hill fisheries thus started in the selected
locations particularly in the Kashmir valley and some parts of
the peninsular India. The breeding and culture techniques for
the rainbow and brown trouts were standardized and now
being practiced with greater success and accuracy.
Important Coldwater Fishes
Snow trout
Schizothorax
richardsonni
Schizothoraichthys
curvifrons
S. longipinnis
S. esocinus
S. niger
S. plannifrons
S. micropogon
S. progastus
S. nasus
S. hugelli
Lepidopygopsis
typus
Mahseer
Tor putitora
T. tor
T. khudree
T. malabaricus
Neolissochilus
hexagonolepis
Exotic trouts
Onchorhynchus
mykiss
Salmo trutta fario
Salvelinus fontinalis
Other Exotics
Cyprinus carpio var.
specularis
C. carpio var.
communis
C. Carpio Var. nudus
Tinca tinca
Carrasius carrasius
Minor carps
Labeo dyocheilus
Labeo dero
Crossocheilus latius
latius
Gara gotyla
G. hughi
Puntius ophicephalus
Barils/
Minnows/
Catfishes/
Loaches
Barilius
bendelisis
B. bakeri
B. vagra
B. barila
Raimas bola
Danio divario
Botia birdi
Glyptothorax
pectinopterus
G. conirostre
conirostre
region is drained by 19 major rivers. The main river systems
draining the Himalayan region are the Indus, the Ganges,
and the Brahmaputra. The Indus and the Brahmaputra are
the longest, each having a mountain catchment of about
160,000 km2
. Five belong to the Indus system, of which the
Beas and the Sutlej have a total catchment area of 80,000
km2
;Nine (Ganga, Yamuna, Ram Ganga, Kali-Sharda, Karnali,
Rapti, Gandak, Bhagmati, Kosi) belong to the Ganga system,
draining nearly 150,000 km2
; and three (Tista, Raidak, Manas)
belong to the Brahmaputra system, draining another 110,000
km2
. Most of these rivers flow in deep valleys until they exit
the mountains (Sehgal, 1999).
There are numbers of lakes situated in the mid and high
altitudes of Himalayan regions. These lakes have diverse
origin such as retreat of glaciers, landslides and tectonic
movements. The sizes of these lakes also vary as some are of
large area while others have small. In the Great Himalayan
andTrans-Himalayanregionlakesarepresentathighaltitude,
with the highest lake situated at 5297m a.s.l. Jana (1998)
lists 13 lakes situated from 3400m to 5297 m, some of them
being brackish or saline. Freshwater lakes in Kashmir Valley
are believed to have originated as oxbow lakes of the Jhelum
River (Raina, 1999). Large lakes having 15,300 ha of surface
area are located at middle altitude (1537 to 1587 m) in the
State of Jammu and Kashmir while Kumaon lakes situated
(1237 to 1930m asl) in the state of Uttarakhand are much
smaller, with the largest only 72 ha. In Himachal Pradesh
Coldwater lakes are situated between 1306 and 4815 m asl.
All these lakes inhabit diverse fish fauna.
Fish Biodiversity
The water bodies of the Himalayan region inhabit diverse
kind of fish fauna. Out of total fish fauna available in India
17% fishes were documented from the mountain ecosystem
establishing the status of the area as a center of origin and
evolution of biotic forms (Ghosh, 1997). About 36 species of
freshwaterfishes(outof1,300)areendemictotheHimalayan
region (Ghosh, 1997). For the whole Himalayas, 218 species
are listed (Menon, 1962).The distribution of fish species in
the Himalayan streams depends on the flow rate, nature of
substratum, water temperature and the availability of food.
The species distribution in the upper reaches of the stream/
river where water has a torrential flow is different from the
mid and lower reaches of the stream where flow is moderate
and water current is soft. A number of fish species such as
Noemacheilus gracilis, N. stoliczkae, Glyptosternum reticulatum,
Diptychus maculates, Noemacheilus spp., Schizothoraichthys
esocinus, S. progastus, Schizothorax richardsonii, Schizopygopsis
stoliczkae, Schizothorax longipinnis, S. planifrons, S. micropogon,
Garra gotyla, Crossocheilus diplochilus, Labeo dero and L.
dyocheilus are found distributed in the different reaches of
the river. The eastern Himalaya drained by the Brahmaputra
has a greater diversity of Coldwater fish than the western
Himalayan drainage. Among all these species a few supports
thecapturefisherywhilesomearebeingcultivatedinthefarm
condition at different altitudes based on their temperature
tolerances.

Scope
There is a vast scope and potential in improving fish
production in hills by bringing natural Himalayan lakes
located at different altitudes, under scientific management
for fishery enhancement. This would actually reduce the
gap between actual fish yield and production potentials.
Through application of modern techniques, significant scope
exists for promoting trout farming, which in long run, will
have both domestic and export demand. There is also a great
potential for sport fishery development and ecotourism in
hill regions. Use of modern techniques such as molecular
and biotechnological intervention, selective breeding
programme for improvement of strains both of exotic and
indigenous species, coldwater fish health management for
the containment of diseases have now become imperative.
Providing decision support system using GIS and remote
sensing would be helpful not only for resource assessment
butalsoforaquaculturedevelopmentinthehills.Ornamental
fish culture for small scale enterprises in the hills can provide
an alternative source of employment. Presently DCFR has
different available technologies for the hill aquaculture,
resource management and conservation. Three ponged fish
farming has been standardized and also disseminated to the
farmers of different hill states of the country. Chinese carp
based polyculture technology has been popularized and
also adopted by farmers in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and
Uttarakhand. Trout farming and seed production technology
has also been introduced in the state of Sikkim and Arunachal
Pradesh. Aquaculture diversification is the key of fish
production enhancement in the hill states and also one of the
most important needs of the hour. DCFR has already initiated
programmes in this direction with the culture and breeding
of Semiplotus semiplotus and Neolissochilus hexagonolepis.
To augment fish production from hilly areas two improved
strains of Common carp from Hungary has been imported
and introduced into the culture system. Aquaculture
potential site selection using geoinformatics has been
developed for sustainable utilization of available resources.
For the rehabilitation and stock enhancement of Himalayan
mahseer, conservation programme such as breeding and
subsequent ranching of seed has already been taken up.
Issues
The vast mountain fishery resources of India inhabits around
258 fish species distributed in the Himalayan and peninsular
region of the country of which indigenous mahseer, snow
trout, exotic trout and common carp are commercially
important. The present exploitation of fishery resources
in upland regions comes mainly from capture fisheries,
though fish production through culture practices is gaining
momentum.
Severalconstraintssuchaslowproductivityofuplandwaters,
comparatively slow growth rate in almost all fish species, low
fecundity in fishes and poor landing and marketing facility
have been seen as major obstacles in the rapid development
and expansion of coldwater fish production. The major issues
concerning the development of coldwater sector in India are:
• Low level of production
• Lack of infrastructure for aquaculture
• Availability of seed for production
• Introduction of new candidate species for aquaculture
• Habitat destruction • Wanton destruction
• Aquatic pollution • Conservation policy
• Management policy • Climate change
Climate Change
The climate change is a worldwide phenomenon. It refers to
any significant change in climate through temperature and
rainfall pattern etc. for an extended period of decades or
longer, as a result of natural processes and anthropogenic
activities. As global warming continues to increase the
atmospheric temperature, it will lead to a continuous shift of
zero temperature line (snow line) towards higher altitudes.
Climate change is affecting Coldwater resources and their
fisheries through its impact on flow regimes of streams,
aquatic temperature of water bodies, food chain, micro
habitats and overall productivity. The changed eco-climatic
conditions would deteriorate the pristine feeding and
breeding grounds of the native coldwater fish species their
population, maturity condition and spawning and related
vital life cycle phenomenon. Thus, it would lead to migration
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by themselves or to sell on cheaper prices at far. Being
a perishable item transportation of the fresh fish is very
difficult. There is a need of introduction of value addition
techniques to their catches/ production in order to get higher
returns. These would not only preserve their products but
also would increase the net profit.
In the upland waters, the Indian major carps do not grow
well, due to the low thermal regime. Therefore, Chinese
carps found suitable for the Mid-Himalayan region as the
candidate species for polyculture. The culture of Chinese
carps were introduced in the Poly/Irrigation Tanks in the
mid altitude regions. The technology provides opportunities
for conservation of water for irrigation and fish culture. The
use of polytanks has shown enhanced growth of fish. Around
50 farmers in the Champawat district of Uttarakhand have
already adopted the technology.
Common carp is a major candidate species for polyculture
in mid hills. The common carp presently grown in India
originated from two introductions, in 1939 (German strain)
and 1957 (Bangkok strain). These have become mixed over
many generations to give the current stock. This stock of
common carp is characterized by early sexual maturation and
slow growth rate. This is considered as a serious problem in
the culture of this species in uplands. For faster growth and
successful aquaculture of this species in coldwater system,
it is required to replace the stock with improved strain. Two
improved strains Ropsha scaly and Felsosomogy mirror carp
were imported from Hungary, at DCFR, Bhimtal. The strains
were reared and successfully bred at Champawat farm of
DCFR. Hungarian strain gave 47% more growth rate over the
existing strain in polyculture system. The improved strains of
Hungarian scale carp and mirror carp are released as Champa
1 and Champa 2 respectively by DCFR. The parent stock is
maintained at Champawat field Centre of DCFR. The strains
were supplied to different hill states particularly Dept. of
Fisheries of Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim
and ICAR Research Complex for NE region, Barapani for
culture mainly to evaluate the performance in different eco-
climatic condition for later dissemination to fish farmers.
Conclusion
The aquatic resources in hills are quite valuable for the
development of fishery both for food, sport, recreation and
employment but scientific management of these resources
is necessary to achieve the objectives. In order to manage
these ecosystems, so that they can contribute to fishery
development in remote hilly regions on a sustainable basis,
the following issues need attention:
Resource mapping of the fishery resources in mountain/
hill region needs to be taken up on priority basis for the
integrated development of the coldwater sector.
In order to develop the riverine and lacustrine fisheries it is
necessary to go for stock enhancement programme through
ranching.
A legal framework should be formulated to stop all types of
destructive fishing method.
and death of stenothermal and ecologically sensitive fish
species.
Management Strategies
Major occupation in the mountain region of the country is
agriculture based activities. The land holding in the hill area
is smaller (700-900m2
) as compared to the national average
(1370 m2
). The farmers in the hill region have integrated type
of farming pattern. Fish can serve as an additional source
of income if integrated with the water conservation and
harvesting programme. Keeping in view the squeezing land
and burgeoning human ratio, mountain fish resource base is
of great relevance and development of such areas. Keeping
in view these facts different technological approach and
support services are needed for the fishery development of
mountain areas.
There is a need of introduction of large scale farming to bring
the country on international scenario. Coldwater fisheries
for livelihood and industry are the two modern concepts. The
aim of these is to provide protein locally at cheaper price and
to export the fish and fishery products to gain the foreign
currency. The aim is very honest and clear to the researchers,
extension workers and development authorities to make the
strategies accordingly in order to achieve the target within
the time frame. The linkage of public and private sector is
mandatory in order to develop the coldwater fisheries.
Resource assessment in the hill region is a challenge due to
its kaleidoscopic topography. Information available on water
resources are old and are based on the maps prepared by
Survey of India. For effective planning of the resources, there
is a need of updating the information on fisheries resources
in the hills is expected through Geoinformatics. This database
will be repository for the country and will be very much
needed to develop scientific management action plan for
fishery development.
Technology developed for the culture, breeding and
managementoftheeconomicallyviablefishessuitableformid
Himalayan region has a positive impact on the employment
generation in these regions since the technology was taken as
hot cake among the farmers in some areas of the hills. There
is great scope for disseminating these promising technologies
in sub to mid Himalayan belt in order to upgrade the socio-
economic conditions of the inhabitants.
To replenish the fish diversity, the directorate has taken
programmes on priority by ranching seed in the selected
water bodies. Artificial propagation & seed production from
the stocks raised in the farm conditions are standardized.
But the current level of aquaculture technology needs to
be refined for raising commercial stocks of indigenous fish
species in hills. Sustained efforts are required in the areas
of nutrition, growth enhancement and genetic improvement
using modern biotechnology tools.
Fish sale in the fresh condition is also a bottleneck in
development of coldwater fisheries, since the many ponds
are not approachable to the market. In these circumstances
the farmers either forced to consume the production

The breeding grounds of the fish need special protection by
declaring them as ‘No-fishing Zone’ or ‘Protected Area’.
A balanced strategy for lakes, for tourism and fishery
development is required.
Development of sport/recreational fishery for tourism and
employment generation.
Education, training and extension support to the hill
communities for resource conservation and utilization.
Promotion of mountain-specific policy formulation and
legislation.
Promoting sustainable use of mountain natural resources
and conservation of biological diversity and mountain
ecosystems.
The mountain fish resources are of great relevance and
development of such area has become subject of national
concern which needs different technological approach and
support services. Such resources have to be properly utilized
for increasing fish production for national basket and rural
development in hills. For the sustainable development of
this sector, impact assessment and mitigation options of
environmental stress is required at certain levels:
Therapidoveralldevelopmentandever-increasingpopulation
lead to anthropogenic activities resulted in disturbing the
fragile aquatic ecosystems and fish fauna. Impact assessment
is required to know the effect of these activities on the fish
biodiversity and wild stock.
Effect of climate change should be studied as a pilot project
to determine its adverse effects on the fish biodiversity.
Coldwater Fish species are very sensitive to changes in water
temperature and other water qualities. They are important
ecological indicators for impact assessment of climate
change.
Thereisgreatscopefordisseminatingpromisingtechnologies
in sub to mid Himalayan belt in order to upgrade the socio-
economic conditions of the inhabitants. Positive impact may
be assessed to know the improvement in their livelihood.
References
FAO (2003). Mountain Fisheries in Developing Countries. Ed.
Petr, T. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. 74 p.
Ghosh,A.K.(1997).Himalayanfaunawithspecialreferenceto
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Action plan (ed. U. Dhar). GB Pant Institute of Himalayan
Environment & Development, Kosi- Katarmal, Almora, pp.
53-59.
Hasnain, S.I. (1999). Himalayan glaciers – Hydrology and
hydrochemistry. Allied Publishers, New Delhi, pp 234.
Jana, B.B. (1998). State-of-the-art of lakes in India: an
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Diversification of Freshwater
Aquaculture - Propagation of
Tilapia Culture in Andhra PradeshP.Ram Mohn Rao and T.V.Bharathi
State Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India
The new state of Andhra Pradesh has about 78 reservoirs in
an extent of 2 lakh ha, 2.80 lakh ha of seasonal and perennial
tanks and about 1 lakh ha freshwater aquaculture area . Carp
culture is the dominant activity in the state where most of
the inland ponds are almost reached full utilization. Yet, many
of the inland open water bodies are still left under-utilised
and un-utilized. There is vast scope to utilize these water
bodies by promoting culture fish in cages that will definitely
help in boosting up production, livelihood, food security and
employment to teeming rural people.
The fisheries sector in Andhra Pradesh has been identified
as ‘growth engine’ for economic development based on an
evaluation of potentials of sectors to build on accumulated
strength to make significant impact on Gross State Domestic
Product. The total fish production of 7.69 lakh tones during
the year 2004-05 in Andhra Pradesh has been increased
to 17.68 lakh tones in 2013- 14, which is about 2.30 times
increase within a span of 10 years.
Aquaculture in Andhra Pradesh has been the mainstay for
many aqua farmers and the state has become the “Aqua
Capital” of the country. With the increasing demand for
fish, diversification of species in fresh water aquaculture for
increasing production has become imminent. Introduction
of tilapia in ponds/tanks/reservoir systems is definitely
advantageous. As tilapia is gaining popularity in other
countries because of its white muscle and no intra-muscular
bones, it can as well be tried in our state by enthusiastic
famers and also as part of developing large water bodies
such as reservoirs. Tilapia is a good source of protein and
is also known as “Aquatic Chicken” or “Everybody’s fish”. It
is (Oreochromis niloticus) native to Africa and it is one of the
most productive and internationally traded food fish in the
world. It is the second most important farmed fish globally
after carps. As per FAO reports, Tilapia is being farmed in
about 85 countries worldwide and about 98% of tilapia
produced in these countries are grown outside their original
habitats. It is suitable for culture due to its faster growth rate,
amenable for culture in ponds, cages, pens, and wide market
acceptance. Since Tilapia is an exotic species, Government of
IndiahasgivenpermissiontocultureNileTilapia(Oreochromis
niloticus) in Indian waters.
Tilapia mossambica that was long back introduced into Indian
watershasbeenprovedtobeaweedfishbecauseofitsprolific
breeding activity and its rapid widespread in Indian waters.
But compared to T. mossambica, the GIFT tilapia, O.niloticus
is proved to be a superior strain with good growth and good
export potential. The developments in tilapia farming taking
place in neighbouring countries because of the introduction
of GIFT tilapia and as no adverse effect on indigenous fish
species and on the environment is noticed, it is desirable
that this species can be promoted as an alternate species
to augment fish production from derelict water bodies as
well as reservoirs. This species has its advantages due to its
suitability for farming in a wide array of culture environments
and culture systems, ranging from extensive pond culture to
intensive recirculating systems.
Nile Tilapia/GIFT is considered as an economically viable
species. In case of Tilapia, males grow faster and more
uniform in sizes than females. Generally mono sex culture of
tilapia is more advantageous because of faster growth and
uniform size of males. The farm ing of monosex populations of
tilapiaswhichisachievedbymanualsexingordirecthormonal
sex reversal or hybridization or genetic manipulation has
been reported as solutions to the problem of early sexual
maturationandunwantedreproduction.Monosexpopulation
(all male) can be produced with 17α Methyl testosterone
being given through feed for about one month.
Tilapia culture can be taken up both for rural subsistence and
for commercial scale intensive venture. Culture of tilapia in
ponds is more economical. If monosex fish are stocked with
regular manuring and supplementary feeding, yields are
economically viable and successful. Tilapia is an omnivore/
herbivore and feeds on algae, bacteria, and detritus. It also
consumes artificial feeds that are prepared with agriculture
by products. Polyculture of tilapia with other native fishes
in freshwater ponds is also widely integrated with shrimp,
poultry and cattle rearing as well as agriculture.
Of late, cage culture of tilapia is being propagated as a most
successful option as it not only prevents excessive breeding,
but also management of cages is easier than management
of ponds. This will help in opening up options for large scale
use of reservoirs that are under utilized in the state. Beyond
doubt, Cage farming needs expansion throughout the state.
Butitisimportanttoponderovercertainissuesinintroducing
tilapia cages viz.
Time is ripe to develop and standardize technology for all-
male Tilapia seed production and grow out farming of GIFT
Tilapia on commercial scale as the diversification of fresh
water aquaculture is the need of the hour. Rajiv Gandhi
Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA), the R & D arm of the Marine
Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is making
all efforts to streamline the hatchery technology of tilapia

There is ample scope for development of entrepreneurial
activities for creation of income and employment by proper
utilization of resources in Odisha. Low productivity of the
resources like land and water can be enhanced through
adoptionofsuitabletechnologiesforaugmentingproduction,
employment and income generation for the farmers. With
the advancement of research achievements, various suitable
technologies have been developed which is suitable for need
based farming in different climatic conditions. Farmers in the
rural villages having limited resources are getting the benefit
by adopting various scientific aquaculture practices in their
ponds and backyards. Apart from livelihood generation this
has created scope for development of entrepreneurship and
commercialization of production in large scale generating
profit for the traders.
The ornamental fish is a promising sector within aquaculture,
which envisaged being full of opportunities in terms of
the growth, for generating income and employment to the
large number of the skilled educated unemployed across
the country side. At present a fraction of the domestic and
international potential is harvested. But, in the recent times,
the sector has shown a faster growth upon concentrated
efforts of the farmers and entrepreneurs to take up the
ornamental fish as means of their business and livelihoods.
A large number of the stakeholders’ i.e fishers, farmers,
breeders, traders, vendors, transporters and exporters are
involved in the sector. The whole business of the ornamental
fish is based on the supply of the fishes from two primary
sources i.e. wild collection and captive breeding. There is a
wide apprehension on the environmental impact of the wild
collection and it has a damaging effect on the threatened fish
biodiversity in the country. Therefore, the captive breeding
is the foundation of the sustainable development of the
enterprises. The breeding not only reduces the pressure from
thenaturetoaconsiderabledegreebut,providein-vivomeans
of germplasm conservation through culture. Therefore,
and to pave way for the commercial production of tilapia
for the sustained supply of genetically improved stocks for
farming. The development of Genetically Improved Farmed
Tilapia (GIFT) technology (Super Tilapia) is based on selective
breeding to improve commercially important traits of farmed
fish and RGCA deserves full appreciation for standardisation
of technology for seed production and farming and for
production of all male GIFT tilapia seeds.
Several Asian countries like China, Vietnam, Malaysia
Thailand and Taiwan have increased their national fish
production by resorting to cage culture. Yet, cage culture in
India is in its nascent stage. Now Government has recognized
the importance and potential for cage culture and making
efforts to promote cage culture to increase the production
of tilapia in coming years with utilization of large water-
bodies. Government is taking steps to formulate a pilot
project and setting up of a few GIFT hatcheries at selected
points for supply of monosex seed to the farmers, for its
farming. Establishment and operation of commercial tilapia
hatcheries need substantial investment, and hence public-
private partnerships will be encouraged. It is high time that
all government institutes/organizations and interested Non-
Government Organizations (NGOs) need to join in hands to
make tilapia farming a success.
Biological Role of Minerals
development of the breeding technology is indentified as
the critical and priority for sustainable development of the
sector. However the domestic trade depends on breeding
and farming of several commercial ornamental fishes starting
from cheaper guppies to high priced Flower horn species
where large number of traders, hobbyist and farmers are
involved in the process for income generation. Important
groups of egg-layers are barbs, rasboras, goldfish, tetras,
danios, bettas and gouramis and the major livebearers are
guppies, platies, mollies and swordtails.
Essential aspects of the Ornamental Fish Breeding
Technology
The breeding technology involves both science and art with
high degree of skill for successful operations. The technology
gets refined at the entrepreneurs level with experience and
expertise as fines skills are learned by doing. The research
institutes have committed to give attentions to develop
these technologies. Below are few essential aspects of
the ornamental fish breeding as tips to the entrepreneurs
interested in the breeding.
Sexing the Fish
Determining the sex of a fish is an important aspect. Like all
other animals of animal kingdom males are more colorful,
larger, and have more elaborate finnage. Often, the only way
to distinguish between the sexes is the shape of the genital
papilla, which is only visible during spawning period. In some
isomorphic species, the males are slightly larger and the
Ornamental
Fish Farming for
Entrepreneurship
Development
P. Jayasankar and S.K. Swain
Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture
Kausalyagangar, Bhubaneswar –751 002, India
TRACE
MINERALS
BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION DIETARY SOURCES
Iron Iron is essential for the
production of haemoglobin,
myoglobin, cytochromes and
many other enzyme systems.
Iron is one of the primary
metals involved in lipid
oxidatation.
Rich dietary sources of
iron include; blood meal,
kelp meal, coconut meal,
meat and bone meal,
sunflower seed meal,
dried distiller soluble
alfalfa meal, crab meal etc.
Recommended
Doses : 70mg/kg of feed
Zinc Metabolism of lipid, protein
and carbohydrate. Actives in
the synthesis and metabolism
of nucleic acids (RNA) and
proteins. Action of hormones
and in wound healing. Reduced
viral penetration inhabits
proteases involved in viral
capsid formation and increases
antibody production.
chick hatchery meal, dried
candida yeast, dehydrated
fish soluble, dried distill-
ers grains with soluble etc
Recommended
Doses : 90mg/kg of feed
Manganese Manganese functions as
an enzyme activator; The
manganeses is essential for
bone formation, regeneration
of red blood cells, carbohydrate
metabolism, and the
reproductive cycle. It repair
and maintenance of epithelial
tissues, bone formation, in
urea synthesis, amino acid
metabolism and glucose
oxidation.
Kelp meal, rice bran,
dehydrated poultry
manure, palm kernel
meal, crab meal, wheat
bran etc.,
Recommended
Doses: 45mg/kg of feed
Copper Copper participates in
hematopoiesis, copper
dependent metalloenzymes
responsible for oxidation
reduction and in the absorption
and metabolism of iron.
Formation of the pigment
melanin and skin pigmentation,
bone formation nerve fiver
Fish soluble, corn distillers
dried soluble, dehydrated
sugar cane molasses corn
gluten meal, linseed meal,
soybean meal, dried brew-
ers grains, wheat mill run,
millet, etc.,
Recommended
Doses: 9mg/kg of feed
TRACE
MINERALS
BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION DIETARY SOURCES
Cobalt Red blood cell formation and
the maintenance of nerve
tissue, and activating agent
for various enzyme systerms.
synthesis of vitamin B12
Copra meal, linseed meal,
dried brewer’s yeast, fish
meal, meat meal, cotton-
seed meal and soybean
meal etc.,
Recommended Doses :
0.9mg/kg of feed
Iodine lodine is an essential compo-
nent of thyroid hormones im-
portant in regulating the meta-
bolic rate of all body processes.
It has roles in thermoregulation,
Intermediary metabolism,
reproduction, growth and de-
velopment, hematopoiesis and
circulation and neuromuscular
functioning
All food stuffs of marine
origin and in particular
seaweed meal, marine fish
and crustacean meal etc.,
Recommended
Doses : 4.5mg/kg of feed
Selenium Protects cells from deleterious
effects of peroxides. Selenium
acts along with vitamin E to fuc-
tion as a biological antioxidant
to protect polyunsaturated
phospholipids in cellular and
subcellular membranes from
peroxidative damage. Zinc func-
tions as a cofactor in several
enzyme, make stress free
Dehydrated fish soluble,
fish meal, dried brewer’s
yeast, corn gluten meal,
dried torula yeast, rape-
seed meal etc.,
Recommended
Doses:0.19mg/kg of feed
Chromium Chromium is associated
with the glucose tolerance
factor, and organometallic
molecule that potentiates the
action of insulin, important in
carbohydrate metabolism.
Chick shell meal, shrimp
tail meat, Artemia salina,
dried brewer’s yeast,
shelfish, liver etc.,
Recommended
Doses : 0.7mg/kg of feed

females are slightly oval in the belly
Selection of correct brooder Once the sexes have been
distinguished, a suitable pair or spawning group can be
selected. There are several important traits to seek in
choosing the brood fish. The fish that shows good markings
and colour that would produce attractive young should be
selected. It is better to use mature, healthy fish for spawning
becauseunhealthyfish,iftheyspawn,mayproduceunhealthy
or deformed hatchlings.
Conditioning the Brooders
Before placing the parent fish together for spawning, they
should be conditioned through best feeding strategies with
a variety of live foods to get them in excellent matured
condition for spawning. The live foods such as tubifex, blood
worm, mosquito larvae, zooplanktons etc. which not only
gives the good growth but also triggers the spawning process.
Breeding Types
Some of the ornamental fish species readily spawn in the
aquarium or cement tanks, the eggs or hatchlings often do
not survive because of predatory nature of the parents.
Sometimes the mortality occurs due to unfavorable, polluted
water conditions. It is always better to breed the fish in a
separate spawning tank.
a) Oviparous (Egg Layers): Most of the aquarium fishes
are egg-layers with external fertilization. Egg-layers can be
divided into five groups’ viz., egg-scatterers, egg-depositors,
egg-burriers, mouth-brooders, and nest-builders.
b) Ovo-Viviparous (Live Bearers): Livebearers are fish
that bear live young. They are ovoviviparous in nature,
where the eggs form and hatch within the female before
birth. Livebearers are often prolific, easily bred species. They
are mostly molly, platy, swordtail and platy. Development
of young ones takes place inside the female body and they
released after about four weeks.
Salient aspects of Successful Production of
Ornamental Fish
The success of any entrepreneurs depends upon the project
planning, siteselection and successful layout, design of the
breeding or rearing unit. Once the unit is established in any
site and later on found uneconomical due to unavailability of
certain important facilities like water, power etc. cannot be
rectified in latter stage. At present the variety of commercial
enterprises producing ornamental fishes are as wide as the
species produced. The degree of intensification and species
farmed depends on following aspects.
• Training on the subject is a prerequisite before starting an
ornamental fish unit.
• The minimum land requirement is 500-1000 square feet
area for a small scale farming practice, whereas 1 acre and
more for large scale farming in which few earthen ponds
are to be excavated for some species like koi carps, gourami,
barbs etc.
• Site selection is one of the main criteria where the farmer
should select a cool environment for the culture and
breeding.
• Breeding and rearing unit should be made near a constant
supply of water and electricity.
• The selection of candidate species depends on the water
quality of that area. Therefore, water quality can be
checked in any nearby water testing laboratory.
• Biofiltration unit is a prerequisite for smooth functioning of
an ornamental fish culture and breeding unit.
• Thebroodstockselectedforbreedingshouldbeofsuperior
quality, so that good quality fish seed could be produced.
• Broodstockscanbeallowedtobreedfornotmorethantwo
years. Fresh stocks from different source may be added in
every two years to the selected parent stocks to improve
the breeding efficiency and produce healthy offspring.
• The fish breeder should concentrate preferably on one
species so that it helps the breeder to develop expertise on
the particular species and a good variety of fishes can be
produced as per the market demand.
• Constant availability of agro-based byproducts will
facilitate preparation of pelleted diet for the fish. For
preparing a pelleted diet a mini pelletiser can be installed.
• The breeding and rearing unit may be established
preferably nearer to airport/railway station, bus stand etc.
for easy transportation for export and domestic market
• The breeders should develop market relations with pet/
retail shops, potential farmers, vendors dealing with
ornamental fish, marketing network, etc. to facilitate the
process of selling/ procuring new brood stocks.
• A committed entrepreneur should always ensure regular
contact with the recent research developments in the field
and attend training and exposure visits.
• All new incoming fishes should be quarantined from
resident stock. Movement of fishes should be restricted
from a suspected or unknown disease status area.
Ornamental Fish Units in Orissa
Over 100 units have developed as a backyard activity,
with an investment of Rs. 10,000-Rs. 80,000/-. As many as
eight varieties of ornamental fishes are bred by the units
managed by individual families, with a monthly income of Rs.
2,000-5,000/-. Under NAIP livelihood programme, CIFA has
established 30 ornamental fish production units under public
private partnership mode (PPP) at Keonjhar, Sambalpur and
Mayurbhanj districts with on-farm demonstration among
the tribal women SHGs. The Income has already generated
and the women have initially getting an income of Rs 50,000-
60,000/unit/year from those units. As horizontal expansions
of NAIP, there are three “ornamental fish villages” are being
developed at Landijhari, Saruali and Nuagaon in Barkot block,
Deogarah district of Orissa by the cooperation from State
Fisheries Department and ATMA, Deogarah. About 76 small-
scale backyard units have been developed by the farmers
with the culture and breeding of livebearers besides making
of glass aquarium for livelihood enhancement. The marketing
of the produce has been tied up with the local traders at
Keonjhar, Deogarah and Rourkela. Many of them have earned
an amount of Rs 10,000-15, 000/- in a year by investing Rs
4,000-6,000 only. More and more numbers of farmers are
constructing their infrastructure day by day.
Ornamental Fish Farming for Livelihood and Trade
The economic viability is the foundation of the any popular
and successful enterprises. There is great scope for
developing small scale units with an investment of about Rs. 2
lakhs for cement cisterns, fish seed, feed and other material.
With backyard units comprising a few cement tanks with
water facility, men as well as women farmers, unemployed
youth, ex-servicemen, self-help groups (men and women) can
adopt ornamental fish culture individually or in groups. In a
limited area of 500-1,000 sq. feet, they can earn Rs 2,000 to
5,000 per month with an investment of about Rs. 1 lakh. On
a commercial scale, entrepreneurs have invested up to Rs. 10
lakhs, with a monthly return of Rs 10,000 to 30,000.
The practice is often a family enterprise, with the members
joining hands in different activities of breeding, tank
fabrication and maintenance, feed preparation, transport
and sale, etc. A successful economic enterprise requires lot
of dedication, hard work, sincerity and timely marketing of
the produce. So also in ornamental fish, the success depends
on the investment, habitat management, species selection,
demand, and proper marketing. Considering the proven
successofinvolvementofwomenindevelopmentofbackyard
enterprise in farming of ornamental fish in West Bengal,
Kerala and Odisha it is necessary that due encouragement is
given for creation of women SHGs for such enterprise. More
government support in marketing of such fishes along with
financial support from the bank may lead to strengthen the
farming and trade.
Chronic Loose Shell Syndrome in L.vannamei
Incidences of chronic loose shell syndrome and white gut
syndrome has been reported some of the vannamei farms of
Nellore(Dt.), A.P., CLSSwasobservedin30daysafterstocking
the seed in the ponds. Due to this problem, survival rate is
decreasing in culture ponds. It is due to the presence of high
amount of bluegreen algae in culture ponds.This bluegreen
algae releasing the toxins by which this problem could
arises in culture ponds. Using of microminarals and medicins
increases the growth of algae and it increases the intensity
of the disease. White gut or White feces is also a problem in
vannamei culture. Due to this, the infected shrimp gut tissue
spoiled and becomes white in colour. This condition is known
as white gut disease and later stage, is called white feces. In
this stage the affected shrimp hepatopancreas damaged and
becomes white in colour, releases whitish fluide.
Fisheries Polytechnic College Funding
from NABARD
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) has released Rs. One crore from the Rural
Infrastructure Development Fund to M.V.K.R. Fisheries
Polytechnic College at Bhavadevarapalli in Krishna district.
India’s first fisheries polytechnic college is affiliated to Sri
VenkateswaraVeterinaryUniversity(SVVU).Thefund,which
was released in December 2014, will be spent on developing
an information centre, soil and water testing labs apart from
sea water treatment plant on the college premises, Principal
Dr. K. S. Krishna Prasad said.
The information centre would help aqua farmers understand
changes in aquaculture. Central institutes such as Central
Institute of Brackish Water Aquaculture, Central Institute
of Marine Fisheries Research Institute would be allowed to
use the information centre to share their knowledge with the
farmersandconductofvariousprogrammes.Aproposaltoset
up boarding facility for farmers was sent to SVVU. The facility
will attract farmers from across the State to participate in
various field activities planned by the college, Mr. Prasad
said, adding that work on the project would begin by March
2015. It will be utilised for developing an information centre,
soil and water testing labs and a sea water treatment plant

adequate supply and malnutrition of the aforesaid nutrients
are commonly prevailing concerns in public health and
nutrition in India, as well. Thereby, fish resources and farm-
raised fish in particular need to be tapped to their utmost
potential to improve the health and nutritional status of the
low-income population.
Aquaculture - Challenges and Way Forward
According to FAO (2012), fish production in India has
increased at an average annual growth rate of 7.49% over
the past decade. Aquaculture production of India during
2010 stood at 4.65 million tonnes with the contribution
of carps being 4.2 million tonnes and shrimps being 0.11
million tonnes FAO (2012). Radhakrishna and Reddy (2004)
projectedademandof10.8milliontonnesofmeatandfishfor
household consumption in India by 2020. The Indian Council
of Agricultural Research has projected that the national
demand for fish will be about 16 million tonnes by 2030. With
much less possibilities for expansion from capture fisheries
due to dwindling natural stocks; aquaculture (predominantly
freshwater aquaculture) is expected to shoulder these
demands in the coming years, as mariculture is still in its
infancy in India. Thus a production of 6.4 million tonnes is
projected from aquaculture by 2020 (Giri et al. 2012), which
is 36% more than the current output from aquaculture (4.65
million tonnes).
The real challenge to the policy makers, scientific and farming
community involved in aquaculture is not mere achievement
of the targeted production, but the way in which it needs to
be achieved and judicious allocation of the realized output
to improve nutritional security of the undernourished. This
would require approaches to increase food fish production,
allow optimal utlisation of the available resources, be
environmentally safe and ultimately educate the people on
the benefits of eating fish. A few of the approaches which
have been identified are as follows:
Optimal Resource Utilization
As with any plant or animal based food production system,
aquaculture also requires the use of resources such as land,
water, nutrients and energy. Resource scarcity is expected to
Multidimensional Role and the
Way Forward for Aquaculture in
National Development
S. Felix and P. Antony Jesu Prabhu
Institute of Fisheries Technology, Tamil Nadu Fisheries University, Ponneri, Tamil Nadu, India
Introduction
Aquaculture is the husbandry and culture of aquatic animals
or plants, under controlled or semi-controlled conditions.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing animal food production
sector and India stands second on the global scale in fish
production next to China. Despite being one of the leading
nations in fish production, it should be admitted that a large
majority of our people lack awareness on the importance of
aquaculture and its multidimensional role in the development
of our nation. This article was aimed at summarising the
importance of aquaculture in the overall development of
India to non-expert audience and the actions required for
a sustainable future development for those involved in
aquaculture activity at different levels.
Economic Development through Aquaculture
Aquaculture, although an agricultural activity, in most cases
is considered and taxed as a commercial entity, this has
started to change off-late. The history and evolution of fish
farming activities in the districts of Krishna and Godavari in
the Andhra Pradesh and the shrimp farming activities in the
coastal states of the country stand evidence to the economic
benefits of aquaculture. The gross domestic production
(GDP) from fisheries and aquaculture has been increasing
with an average annual growth rate of 13.9% over the period
of five years from 2007-2012, accounting for about 0.8%
and 4.5% to the total and agricultural GDP of the country,
respectively. While the bulk of the country’s aquaculture
production is consumed in the domestic market, outputs
from the shrimp farming sector generates revenue through
foreign exchange. According to FAO, the total fish production
of the country valued to about 9 billion US dollars during
2010. The area under aquaculture has been growing steadily
over the past couple of decades and this expansion of culture
area in itself is an indication of the economic benefits realised
through aquaculture.
Social Development through Aquaculture
Besides economic development through commercial large-
scale activities, rural development, women empowerment
and poverty alleviation are other aspects of high social value
in aquaculture. Aquaculture has demonstrated its potential
to empower the rural communities and women in India
through livelihood and income generating activities. Tribal
communities and rural women are encouraged to build their
management, leadership and entrepreneurial skills through
small-scale aquaculture and allied activities. Small-scale
aquaculture and allied activates have proven to be suitable
livelihood options, especially for women. Activities like
backyard ornamental fish farming, seaweed farming, carp
culture in community tanks and production of value added
fishery products through self-help groups (SHGs) are a few
proven initiatives to mention in this regard. In general rural
development has various dimensions but it is particularly the
development of the agricultural sector, which provides the
main impetus not only for reducing poverty and hunger but
also for ensuring food security for all.
Nutritional Security and Health through Aquaculture
India is recognized as a rapidly developing world power
with recent advancements in science and technology.
Nevertheless, hunger and malnutrition prevail to be major
public concern to the development of the nation. Besides the
revolutionary achievements in crop production, aquaculture
also holds the key to fight malnutrition of certain vital
nutrients critical in enhancing public health and nutritional
status. It is well known and widely recognized that fish are
themostefficientandcosteffectivesourcesofanimalprotein
available for human consumption.
Algae and fish are the only natural food sources of long chain
polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPA and DHA) that contribute
towards health benefits of humans such as cardiac health,
fetal brain development, vision etc. In this scenario, meeting
the demand of EPA and DHA for a billion people is therefore
possible only through fish. Eating small indigenous fish
entirely improved contributed vitamin A, calcium and iron
intakes of the low-income communities in Bangladesh. In
intensify and hence restriction in the allocation and utlisation
of available resources is expected to stiffen in the future due
to the growing population and associated anthropogenic
activities. Traditionally, the pond based fish production
systems use more land and water, less feed and energy
resources when compared to the modern intensive fish
culture systems. However, the scenario is slowly changing
and the need to produce more fish from the limited resources
available “more from less” is being recognized. This requires
intensifying the production process to obtain maximum
benefits per unit of resource being utilized, with due respect
to environmental protection and long term sustainability.
Raceway systems, RAS, lined ponds ,etc can be the useful
additions in this respect.
Sustainable Intensification
There always exists a trade-off between sustainability and
intensification; not all intensive fish farming practices are
sustainable and vice versa. However, it is possible to strike
a balance in the utlisation of the different resources such
that the environmental impact of the farming practice is
reduced or maintained within the allowable limits. In a recent
report from the world resource institute, environmental
impacts of aquaculture varied by level of production
intensity. Intensification led to decrease in the use of land
and freshwater resources per unit of farmed fish produced.
However, intensification has also led to an increase in the
use of energy and fish-based feed ingredients, as well as an
increase in water pollution for the same unit. Disease risks
also rise in intensive systems. These tradeoffs suggest that
sustainable intensification is easier said than done and that
efforts to intensify aquaculture production should aim at
mitigating the negative impacts of intensification.
Increasing Domestic Consumption
Indian aquaculture is predominantly supported by farming of
carps and shrimps. Shrimps are almost exclusively cultured
targeting the foreign export market. Polyculture of carps,
popularly known as the composite fish culture contributes to
the bulk of fish production which is consumed domestically.
Over the past decade, the culture of exotic carp species have
declined and two species of Indian major carps, namely catla
and rohu have dominated the production. This indicates
that, the preference of the consumer plays the pivotal role in
regulating the production process. Accordingly, to increase
consumer acceptance and appeal, aquaculture of regionally
favouredorpreferredfishspecies,targetingthelocalmarkets
for domestic consumption should be promoted. One of the
main reasons for the exemplary growth of aquaculture in
China is their domestic fish consumption. It is reported that,
most aquaculture products are marketed in live form in China
so as to meet consumer preference for live fish. It is estimated
that only less than 5% of total aquaculture production is
treated or processed for local or overseas markets. Having
said this, the cultural and food habit of Indian population is
far different from the Chinese. However, through proper
marketing and awareness campaigns, great dividends can be
realised in Indian aquaculture.

Aqua times magazine

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