Potential Species for Cage Aquaculturein Indian Reservoirs

摘要

Cage culture is a technology through which fish are reared while captive in an enclosed space that maintains the free exchange of water with the available water source. In India, cage culture in inland water bodies was first initiated to raise air-breathing fish in swamps, major carps in running waters in Jamuna and Ganga at Allahabad, and for Indian major carps (Labeo rohita, Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigala), snakeheads (Channa striata, Channa punctata) and tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in lentic water bodies of Karnataka. Thereafter, cages in many reservoirs and floodplain wetlands have been used to produce advanced fingerlings for stock enhancement in the main water bodies (Bhowmick 2011, Karnatak and Kumar 2014). Interest in cage culture has been promoted as an alternative crop for farmers outside traditional fish farming areas and where topography is not conducive to construction of levee ponds.