Fish Mela at Vizag Beach Witnesses Big Cage Technology to Harvest Indian Pompano
The event attracted a large gathering of stakeholders from across the fisheries sector, reinforcing the growing momentum of India's Blue Revolution
Visakhapatnam: The ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI), Visakhapatnam Regional Centre, in association with National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad, jointly organized a Fish Harvest Mela and Fish Farmers Meet at the R.K. Beach in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
The event showcased the successful harvest of Indian pompano using a large-diameter sea cage, informing farmers about the vast opportunities available in marine cage farming for fisherfolk, women self-help groups (SHGs), youth, and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The event attracted a large gathering of stakeholders from across the fisheries sector, reinforcing the growing momentum of India's Blue Revolution.
The event demonstrated the harvest of approximately four tonnes of Indian pompano (Trachinotus mookalee) from a 12-metre diameter sea cage. This represents a significant advancement over the 5–6-metre diameter cages currently popular in India. Scientists explained that production from such large cages can potentially reach eight tonnes per crop, compared to the 1.5–1.8 tonnes maximum yield generally obtained from smaller cages.
The successful demonstration has been the outcome of a feasibility study on large-diameter sea cages undertaken under the All India Network Project on Mariculture (AINP-M). Seven months ago, project workers had stocked the 12-metre cage with 9,000 hatchery-produced Indian pompano fingerlings weighing about 30 grams each. AINP-M then reared the pompano within the cage in sea providing them commercially available feed twice a day.
Significantly, the breeding, hatchery production, and sea cage farming technologies for Indian pompano have been successfully standardised by the mariculture scientists of ICAR-CMFRI, making the technology ready for large-scale adoption by coastal communities and entrepreneurs.
ICAR-CMFRI director Dr. Grinson George described the harvest as a landmark achievement in the evolution of marine cage farming in Visakhapatnam. ICAR deputy director general (Fisheries) Dr. Joykrushna Jena lauded the fisherfolk for embracing aquaculture as a complementary livelihood.
On the occasion, ICAR-CMFRI Visakhapatnam Regional Centre head Dr. Joe K. Kizhakudan informed the gathering that two private firms have recently signed memoranda of understanding with ICAR-CMFRI for collaboration in marine finfish hatchery management and Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS) technologies.