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Fish Production


FISH PRODUCTION


  • Fish is a rich source dietary protein obtained from aquatic sources. It adds to an important source of food especially for the people living in coastal region.
  • The process of obtaining fish is known as fishery. Fisheries are establishments meant for capture, preservation, exploitation and utilization of various types of products. It can be of different types.

  • Fish can be obtained in two ways:
  • Capture fishery- Method of obtaining fish from natural resources by using traditional or modern technology.
  • Culture fishery- It is also known as fish farming or pisciculture. It is defined as cultivation, rearing and harvesting of fish.
  • Fishery can be of different types on the basis of product obtained from it:

Fin Fishery: it is the capture, management and exploitation of true fish, both bony and cartilaginous.

Shell fishery: it is the capture, management and exploitation of crustaceans, molluscans etc.

  • The water source of the fish can be either seawater or fresh water, such as in rivers and ponds.
  • Thus depending upon the type of water where fish farming is done, fishery can be of two types: marine fisheries, Inland fisheries [include fresh water fisheries and brackish water fisheries].

 

Marine Fisheries:

  • The practice that includes the capturing and culturing of marine fish is known as mariculture. India’s marine fishery resources include 7500 km of coastline and the deep seas beyond it.

Mariculture

  • Popular marine fish varieties include flying fish [exocoetus], eel, hilsa, ribbon fish, pomphret, mackerel, tuna, sardines, Bombay duck etc.

Excoetus

Bombay Duck

  • Some marine fish of high economic value are also farmed in seawater. This includes finned fishes like mullets, bhetki, and pearl spots, shellfish such as prawns mussels and oysters as well as seaweed. Oysters are also cultivated for the pearls they make.

Bhetki

Oysters

  • Marine fish are caught by using many kinds of fishing nets and fishing boats. Electronic devices are used to locate the fish in sea and capturing them. Modern technologies are also used for assemblage of fish in fish schools or shoals through satellite and echosounders.

 

Inland Fisheries:

  • Inland fishery is related to the culturing and capturing of fish in fresh water resources that includes canals, ponds, reservoirs, rivers etc and brackish water resources, where seawater and fresh water mix together, such as estuaries and lagoons. While capture fishing is also done in such inland water bodies, the yield is not high.
  • Production of fish from these resources is known as aquaculture.
  • Aquaculture is done in different ways.

 

Monoculture:

  • It is a type of culture where single species/ breed of fish are cultured in pond or a water resource. The breeds used in such culture are: Catla catla, Labeo rohita [rohu], Cirrhinus mrigala, Clarias sp. [Cat fish], Channa sp. [murrels] etc. These species can survive in shallow water and tolerate high temperature and turbidity.

Rohu

Cage culture:

  • In this the fish is cultured in large cages made up of steel or bamboo which are placed in the river.

Cage Culture

Integrated fish culture:

  • Fish is cultured in agriculture field, usually in combination with rice crop. Sometimes it is done n ponds near poultry farms or piggeries where animal excreta are used as feed for fish production.
  • Monoculture is traditional method and provides low yield. Productivity can be increased by following polyculture or composite culture.

Integrated Fish Farming

 

Polyculture or Composite fish culture:

  • Composite fish culture is related to grow different types of species in same the same water resource. This reduces the cost of production and increases the product yield.
  • Breeds selected for this process have different eating habits and grows in different zones in water. Thus they do not affect the growth or production of each other. The different breeds are classified as surface feeders, column feeder and bottom feeder.

Surface feeders: 

  • They are those that feed on zooplanktons or phytoplanktons in the upper zone of water.

Examples: Silver carp [feeds on phytoplankton], catla [feeds on zooplankton] etc.

Column feeders: 

  • They are those breeds that feed and live in the middle zone of water resource.

Examples: Labeo rohita [rohu, that feeds on decaying plants and detritus], grass carp [feeds on aquatic plants and animals] etc.

Bottom feeders:

  • They are those breeds that feed and live in the bottom zone of water.

Examples: Common carp [omnivores], Cirrhinus mrigala [mrigal, consumes the dead and decaying plants and detritus] etc.

  • Common practice is followed with indigenous/Indian breeds’ catla [surface feeder], rohu [column feeder] and mrigal [bottom feeder] and exotic breeds silver carp [surface feeder], grass carp [column feeder] and common carp [bottom feeder].
  • All six breeds are cultured in same pond without interfering each other’s growth as they have different habits. Similarly other combinations can be planned to increase the production. 

 

Improvement of fish production:

  • The main problem linked with fish culture is the breeding conditions. Fish breeds in running water during monsoon season, July to August in India. Desirable fish seeds [eggs/ spawns/ fries etc] are required to improve the fish production at culture site. This requirement of desirable seed in good quantity is fulfilled by induced breeding technique. In this, breeding among fish is improved by the use of hormones that increase the production of eggs from fish.