Increasing Fish Production by Mariculture in Maharashtra

摘要

In the past 3 years, open sea floating cage farming has been successfully demonstratedudby CMFRI for seabass (Khajura), pompano, cobia (Sakla or Modosa) and lobsters (Shewand)udin nearshore waters. The Institute has developed a cage farming hub at Karwar, where locallyudavailable fish varieties are being tried for open sea culture.With the success of demonstrationudTraining manual on “Cage Culture of Marine Fin fish and Shell fish in Open Sea”ud5udfarms, the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) has come forward for fundingudcage farming in big way. In the case of small scale farmers, cage farming can be easilyudcombined with their capture fisheries operations. A floating cage (3 m dia) can be used forudrearing undersized commercial varieties of fish. Most of these varieties can be fed with lowudvalue bycatch netted by the fishermen and minimize the input costs. Red snapper and some ofudthe perches (Acanthopagrus berda) grow to marketable size within 6-8 months which canudenhance their income. In addition, once the fishermen practice rearing, conservation of fishudresources which are already under threat from over-exploitation in coastal waters mayudbecome easier.