Chennai-based Central Institute for Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) is heading the exercise
Scientists showing the brood stock of Indian white shrimps. (Photo: DC)
Chennai: In a first major step towards reviving Indian white shrimp (Penaeus indicus), which is a major indigenous species with commercial importance in the country and the middle east, before American shrimp dominated the market, fisheries scientists have undertaken an extensive genetic mapping of shrimp distribution along the Indian coast.
Scientists are using various modern scientific approaches such as microsatellite markers and mitochrondial gene sequencing to understand the species’s genetic structure and genetic diversity which will go long way in future selective breeding programmes and perk up the native species.
The Chennai-based Central Institute for Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) is heading the exercise. Institute director K.K. Vijayan told Deccan Chronicle the project is a national network outreach programme titled “population genetics of Penaeus indicus.”
The objective is to identify and catalog different genetic stocks, which will lay the basis for any future genetic selection and breeding programme. He said scientists have already begun collecting samples from various coastal regions where major Indian white shrimp population is available, like Chennai, Kanyakumari, Kollam and Puri.
“We already know that Indian white shrimp stock found in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu or Kollam in Kerala are fast growing. Likewise, we collect samples from all across the Indian coast and analyse their genetic similarities.”
G. Gopikrishna, principal scientist and head, NGBD (Nutrition, Genetics, Biotechnology Division), CIBA, said similar studies were conducted in the past, but in pieces. “This is an exhaustive programme keeping broader goals in mind. At the end of the research we will have comprehensive documents on entire genetic diversity of the species.”
Certainly, there will be variations between the stocks due to various factors like genes, environment, water quality, stress and other aquatic conditions related to different geographical locations.
So before taking-up selective breeding programme or genetic improvement programme, it is vital to have gene samples from all the places. The basic stock should have animals from all across. Only then you will have a wider gene pool, he said.
Indian white shrimp has huge potential and is found in various pockets of the West and East coasts. Recent studies show the species is found in certain localised areas of Surat in Gujarat.
Why is the study important?
The revival of indigenous species is crucial because there is overdependence on Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), an exotic species imported from the United States in 2009 and now holding 90% share in cultivation.
K. Vinaya Kumar, a scientist specialising in genetics, said crores of rupees are being spent on vannamei brood stock import. It’s a huge market and it’s very dangerous to depend on one species.
“Yes, vannamei has its advantages in availability of genetically improved and is widely cultured across the globe. But, still it’s a foreign species. “Indicus being a native species will be a good alternative to have,” says Vinaya.
Andhra farmers complain of new disease?
Another important factor that calls for increased focus on Indian white shrimp is the threat of diseases. If American shrimp is attacked by a deadly virus, there is no fall back option available. On several occasions, shrimp farming faced devastating effects due to various types of diseases in different years. White Spot Syndrome has literally swept-off the iconic Indian tiger prawn. In recent years, the industry saw reduced production due to Running Mortality Syndrome and the Early Mortality Syndrome. Now, the latest worry is the White Feces Syndrome, which has been reportedly spotted in isolated shrimp farms in Andhra. Scientists are analyzing the samples, but are yet to find out the causative agent..
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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