INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY. India is the third largest producer of fish in the world next only

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1 CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY India is the third largest producer of fish in the world next only to China and Peru and it ranks second in the production of Inland fishes. Fish production has increased from 0.75 million tons in 1950 to 6.90 million tons in , registering a compound growth rate of 4.53% per annum which has been the fastest growing one in respect of any item in the food sector. The fisheries sector contributes Rs. 19,555 cores to national income which is 1.4% of the GDP and 4.7% of the agricultural GDP. Out of total Indian exports, the share of export is 3.32%. The distribution however is that it is the 3 rd largest contributor to the net foreign exchange earned by the country. This sector accounts for 13.95% of total exports of the Indian economy. Fishery sector, besides contributing towards nutritional security component of the food basket of India, is recognised for providing livelihood and employment to millions of people. India is a vast country endowed with a large number of fresh water bodies like rivers, lakes, and natural as well as manmade reservoirs, ponds and vast work of irrigation canals. These fresh water bodies support a variety of fish of which some are of great economic importance. With the ever increase of population demand of food increase continuously. This is not full filled by capture fisheries because of ecological disturbances. Culture fishery has little scope 1

2 through healthy management with sustainable management practices. After blue revolution, aquaculture became part of farmers life. So many farmers turn their poor productive, unfertile soils into fish ponds and get profit from them by following scientific methods. Culture of fresh water fishes is not new aspect to Indians. Its origin lies in ancient days from the writing of Koutilya Arthasastra ( B.C) and king Somuwara s encyclopedia manaboltra (1127 A.D). Culture of fishes in fresh water bodies was known even to the people of Egypt as far back as 2500 B.C and to the people of China 2000 B.C. Fish is an important source of high quality animal protein and are low in fat. The fish protein is prime in quality containing by people of all age people. Fish is well endowed with minarets such as Calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin A especially retinol. It is ready available, relatively inexpensive and provides nutritious protein and beneficial fat, which can ultimately contribute to a healthy food. Omega-3 fatty acid appears to have passive effect on heart rhythm. Dietary supplementary of Omega-3 fatty acids reduce the risk of heart diseases (Khan et al., 2003). India is a signatory to the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Trends and Tariff (1994) and its one of the original members of the World Trade Organization. The agreement on agriculture provides a framework for long-term reforms in agricultural trade (Rameshchand, 1997). The agreements address access to markets, domestic support, export competition, subsidy and sanitary 2

3 and phyto-sanitary measures. Currently, Quantitative Restrictions (QRS) on imports into India apply to about 2700 items, of which 800 are agricultural commodities. Imports under the category fish, crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates which comprises items such as live, chilled and frozen fish are quantitatively restricted. As stated in the agreement, tariffs are to be reduced to an average of 24%, currents rates of custom tariff for fish and crustaceans are 10% and 40% for prepared meat, fish, crustaceans and molluscs. USA and Japan are the two largest importers of Indian fishery products with a share of nearly 32.50% in USA emerged as the single largest market for Indian fishery products during relegating Japan to second position after a gap of three decades. The analysis of compound growth rate revealed that the export of fishery products in monetary terms had increased at the rate of 16 percent/year when compared with export quality (8.58 percent/year). This was due to the increase to unit value realization from 1994 to The share of Indian marine products exports to the total agricultural exports was more when compared with the share of fisheries products exports in the total Indian exports. The total export share in domestic fish production was given in Table 1.1 and Fig 1.1. The global production of catla, rohu, mrigala and pangas was given in fig 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5. A main producer of major carps and pangas in the world market was given in fig 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 and

4 The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines aquaculture as the farming of aquatic, including fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and aquatic plants, Farming implies some forms of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding and protection from predators. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated. Pillay (1992) quotes perhaps the most frequently used concept of sustainable development and sustainable aquaculture. To provide an operational perspective, sustainable development is the management and conservation of the natural resources base and the orientation of technological and institutional change in such manner as to ensure the attainment and contained satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development (in agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors) conserves land, water, plant and animal resources, is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable. Nutritional standards of the people are improved by the taking fish as an item of food, because it is so nutritious rich in easily digestible protein resources. These are also essential for prevention of blindness and for the proper development and growth of a child as well as for nursing and lactating mother. Yet, it receives such as low priority as a food item in the scheme of things and this is a paradox in itself. Besides providing nutritional security and also provides the employment for several millions peoples belong to the poor and 4

5 backward community of the rural people. So the including fish in diet can make voluble contribution for healthy growth (Salim, 2006; Yildrim et al., 2008). Globally fish prides about 16% of the animal protein consumed by human beings (Krishna et al., 2009). Fish meat contains all the essential amino acid and minerals viz., iodine, phosphorus, potassium, iron, copper and vitamin A & D in desirable concentrations. It serves as valuable ingredient to a healthy diet because of its low carbohydrate and unsaturated fat contents. It is often recommended by doctors to heart patients since it is an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Choo and Williams, (2003), Sandhu, (2005), Razvi, (2006), Salim, (2006), Yildrim et al., (2008) stated that the inclusion of fish in our diet can make a valuable contribution to any diet that contain mainly of cereals, starchy roots and sugar for the healthy growth. Carp culture: Carp culture has been a traditional practice which has received a broader scientific base in recent years and has improved the pond productivity from 600 to 10, 000 kg/ha/yr. The technologies have been adopted in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, where a large number of ponds are under major carp culture to enhance the production to increase times. Major carp culture has come up in a big way all over the country and the seed availability for farming has increased considerably. To get profit from fish pond farmers must keep these features in view. They are the site of the pond, nature of soil, holding capacity of water by the soil, water 5

6 quality and quantity, types of culture, fertilizers both organic and inorganic, quality of feed and availability of market facility. The main principle of polyculture is utilized species that feed at different levels of the food web to produce a balanced ecosystem. Efficient usage of fertilizers sustains a high level of primary production. Fish production is highly depend on the combination of the fish to efficiency will greatly depend on the composition of fish species stocked and their relative densities while polyculture is a traditional aquaculture practices in India. The concept is standing to attract attention as sustainable and production efficiencies are becoming paramount to meet the ever increasing demand for fish. The concept of carrying capacity in a hydrographic systems, ecological balance and nutrients flow with in an ecosystem are essential factors for the sustainable development of aquaculture (Kumar et al., 2005). The low, medium and high input technologies of carp polyculture coupled with sewage fed, weed based and integrated farming with agriculture and live stock have sufficient inroads into various parts of the country but the average farmed fish productivity of the country is still as low as 2200kg/ha/year. This has a lot to do with poor infrastructure and failure of the extension services. Unfortunately, in many reservoirs, fish fry, which cannot be easily identified, are stocked. This leads to different species of unknown combination in polyculture leads to confusion and ultimately very low production was obtained. In order to improve the survival rates, stocking with large fingerlings or early yearlings it s a necessity. 6

7 Farmers would be able to identify them easily at this stage in Andhra Pradesh farmers wither stock stunted or large fingerlings. Hatcheries have mushroomed but seed availability of the desired species and size. Farmers do not have access to them, at the right time, thereby giving scope for the illegal trade to flourish (Tripathi, 2007). Presently composite fish culture system is operated by adopting three types of management practices they are; culture of Indian major caps (catla, rohu and mrigala) alone, culture of exotic carps alone, and culture of Indian major, exotic carps together along catfishes. Fish production ranging between 10 to 12 tons per hectare per year is obtain0ed normally through polyculture system (Krishna et al., 2009) Distribution of Indian Major carps: The Indian major carps catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigala (Cirrhinus mrigala) which are also known as the gangetic carps are the natural inhabitants of the Ganga river network, namely the Ganga, the Gomati, the Yamuna and the Brahmaputra and the Indus river system in North India. The Ganga river system running to a total length of about 8,047 km, besides the major carps, harbors the richest freshwater fauna of India, ranging from mahaseers and the torrential fishes of hills to a wide array of other fishes of great commercial value. 7

8 The main Rivers of the East coast river system in the peninsular India are the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Cauvery. The Mahanadi naturally has all the species of Indian major carps, which are common in the Ganga system. Rivers Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery have their own several indigenous carp species, which are referred as minor carps such as Labeo bata, L. gonius, L. fimbriatus, Cirrhinus reba etc. However, the major carps have been repeatedly transplanted into these rivers and have become established in them, contributing significantly to the fish fauna of these rivers. The major rivers of the West coast river system are the Narmada and Tapti. Their fish fauna consists of carps, catfishes, mahaseers, murrels, purches, prawns etc. Distribution of major carp resources also includes that part of the Indus river system which falls into Pakistan after its formation and tributaries of Brahmaputra flowing through Bangladesh Distribution of Catla catla (catla): Jhingran (1968) described the distribution of Catla catla, which starts from the Ganga river network in the north to the Krishna river down south of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma. It is also found in Nepal (Jhingran, 1968). The fingerlings of catla, introduced into the Cuddapah-Kurnool canal from river Godavari in 1909 found their way into river Penna and the connected waters in the Nellore district of the state of Andhra Pradesh. Catla fingerlings were also introduced in Cauvery River during 1920s and subsequently into the 8

9 Bhavani. Later the species was introduced into Periyar Lake, Powai Lake. The species has become widely established. Jhingran (1968) has also mentioned that catla fingerlings have been also exported to Israel in 1954 and to Japan and Mauritius in the 1960s. According to FAO Database on Introduction Aquatic Species (DIAS) ( catla has been distributed to other countries also such as Zimbabwe, Israel, Bhutan, Philippines, Former USSR, Japan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Mauritius. (Fig 1.6) 1.3. Distribution of Labeo rohita (rohu): The main source of literature about the distribution of rohu is Day (1878 and 1889). He stated that the species is distributed in freshwaters of Sindh and Punjab (Pakistan), through India, Bangladesh and Burma. Alikunhi et al., (1951) have mentioned that the occurrence of this species in many other places, viz., Sabarmati drainage, in the rivers Narmada, Tapti, Godavari, Mahanadi etc. though it is more common in plains of North India. Its distribution has been also mentioned in other neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Burma and Nepal. Khan and Jhingran (1975) have given other details on the distribution of rohu through transplantation. However, according to FAO DIAS(19) besides the above mentioned countries the distribution of rohu has also extended to the Philippines, Former USSR, Japan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Pakistan, 9

10 Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Madagascar, China and Mauritius. (Fig 1.7) 1.4. Distribution of Cirrhinus mrigala (mrigala): The earliest work on distribution of mrigal appears to be Day (1878 & 1889). According to him mrigal inhabits rivers and tanks (water bodies much larger than ponds) in Bengal (undivided which includes Bangladesh) Deccan, North-West provinces, Punjab, Sindh (Pakistan), Cutch (partly in Pakistan and partly in Gujarat, Rajasthan provinces of India) and Burma. Later its distribution recorded in the major river systems of India, including river Godavari in the south. According to FAO DIAS (19) besides the above countries, mrigal has also introduced to Bhutan, Philippines, Former USSR, Japan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Mauritius. (Fig 1.8) 10

11 1.5. Description of Indian Major Carps: Catla catla (Hamilton, 1822): (Plate 1.1-A) Synonyms: Cyprinus catla Hamilton, (1822); Catla buchanani Day, (1878); Catla catla Bhuiyan, (1964); Catla catla Menon, (1974). Common name: Catla, Bochhe Taxonomy position: Phylum- Chordata Class-Oesteichthyes Order- Cypriniformes Family- Cyprinidae Genus - Catla Species -catla Fin formula: D (2/15-16); P ; P2. 9; A. 8 (3/5). (Rahman, 2005; Rahman, 1989); D iii-iv 14-21; A iii 6-8; P I 12-13; V ii-iii 7-8 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991); D 2/15-16; P ; P 2 9; A 3/5 (Rahman and Chowdhury, 2007) Morphology: Body short and deep, somewhat laterally compressed, its depth more than head length; head very large, its depth exceeding half the head length; body with conspicuously large cycloid scales, head devoid of scales; snout bluntly rounded; eyes large and visible from underside of the head; mouth wide and upturned with prominent 11

12 protruding lower jaw; upper lip absent, lower lip very thick; no barbels; lower jaw with a movable articulation at symphysis, without a prominent process; gill rakers long and fine; pharyngeal teeth in three row, 5.3.2/2.3.5 pattern; dorsal fin inserted slightly in advance of pelvic fins, with 14 to 16 branched rays, the simple rays non-osseous; anal fin short; pectoral fins long extending to pelvic fins; caudal fin forked; lateral line with 40 to 43 scales. Grayish on back and flanks, silvery-white below; fins are dusky. Habit and Biology: Catla is a eurythermal species that grows best at water temperatures between C. The eggs are demersal at first, gradually becoming buoyant. Early-stage larvae remain in surface and sub-surface waters and are strongly phototactic. The larvae begin to feed three days after hatching, while their yolk sacs persist. As they increase in size, the number of gill rakers and gill filaments also increases, thus assisting them to strain ingested food items. The fry are planktophagic, feeding mainly on zooplankton such as rotifers and cladocerans. Adults feed only in surface and mid-waters; they also are planktophagous, with a preference for zooplankton, mainly crustaceans, rotifers, insects and protozoa, as well as a considerable share of algal and plant material. Catla attains maturity in its second year, performing a spawning migration during the monsoon season towards the upper stretches of rivers, where males and females congregate and breed in shallow marginal areas. The 12

13 spawning season coincides with the south-west monsoon in northeastern India and Bangladesh, which lasts between May and August and in north India and Pakistan from June to September. Its fecundity generally varies from 1-2 lacks/kg body weight, depending on fish length and weight. The resultants seed are brought by water flow to the downstream areas where they are caught by seed collectors. Since a riverine environment is required, natural breeding does not occur within ponds, even though the species attains maturity; thus hormonal induction is required. Among the three Indian major carps, catla is the most difficult to breed as it requires precise environmental conditions for spawning. Under normal conditions catla grows to kg in the first year, compared to g and g for rohu and mrigal, respectively. It attends sexual maturity in two years. Food and feeding habits: Takes food from upper layer of habitat. Talwar and Jhingran (1991) mentioned this fish as surface feeder fish. Feed on both natural and supplementary feeds. Catla catla feed on plant matters including decaying vegetation and also well habituated in taking rice bran, wheat bran, mustard oil cake and other supplementary feed under aquaculture system. 13

14 1.5.2.Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822): (Plate 1.1-B) Synonyms: Cyprinus rohita (Hamilton, 1822) and Labeo horai (Fowler, 1924). Common name: Labeo, rohu Taxonomy position: Phylum- Chordata Class-Oesteichthyes Order- Cypriniformes Family- Cyprinidae Genus- Labeo Species -rohita Fin Formula: Fin formula: D ; P ; P 2. 9; A. 7 Morphology: Body bilaterally symmetrical, moderately elongate, its dorsal profile more arched than the ventral profile; body with cycloid scales, head without scale; snout fairly depressed, projecting beyond mouth, without lateral lobe; eyes dorso-lateral in position, not visible from outside of head; mouth small and inferior; lips thick and fringed with a distinct inner fold to each lip, lobate or entire; a pair of small maxillary barbells concealed in lateral groove; no teeth on jaws; pharyngeal teeth in three rows; upper jaw not extending to front edge of eye; simple (un branched) dorsal fin rays three or four, branched dorsal fin rays 12 to 14; dorsal fin inserted midway between snout tip and base of caudal fin; pectoral and pelvic fins laterally inserted; 14

15 pectoral fin devoid of an osseous spine; caudal fin deeply forked; lower lip usually joined to isthmus by a narrow or broad bridge; pre-dorsal scale 12-16; lateral line distinct, complete and running along median line of the caudal peduncle; lateral line scales 40 to 44; lateral transverse scale-rows six or six and a half between lateral line and pelvic fin base; snout not truncate, without any lateral lobe; colour bluish on back, silvery on flanks and belly. Habit and Biology: In early life stages rohu prefer zooplankton, mainly composed of rotifers and cladocerans, with phytoplankton forming the emergency food. In the fingerling stage, there is a strong positive selection for all the zooplanktonic organisms and for some smaller phytoplankters like desmids, phytoflagellates and algal spores. On the other hand, adults show a strong positive selection for most of the phytoplankton. In the juvenile and adult stages rohu is essentially an herbivorous column feeder, preferring algae and submerged vegetation. Further, the occurrence of decayed organic matter and sand and mud in its gut suggests its bottom feeding habit. The nibbling type of mouth with soft fringed lips, sharp cutting edges and absence of teeth in the bucco-pharyngeal region helps the fish to feed on soft aquatic vegetation which do not require seizure and crushing. The modified thin and hair-like gill rakers also suggest that the fish feed on minute plankton through sieving water. In ponds, the fry and fingerlings exhibit schooling behavior mainly for feeding; however, this habit is not observed in adults. Rohu is a eurythermal species and 15

16 does not thrive at temperatures below 14 C. It is a fast growing species and attains about cm total length and g in one year under normal culture conditions. Generally, in polyculture, its growth rate is higher than that of mrigal but lower than catla. The minimum age at first maturity for both sexes is two years, while complete maturity is reached after four years in males and five years in females. In nature, spawning occurs in the shallow and marginal areas of flooded rivers. The spawning season of rohu generally coincides with the south-west monsoon, extending from April to September. In captivity with proper feeding the species attains maturity towards the end of second year. However, breeding does not take place in such lentic pond environments; thus induced breeding becomes necessary. The fecundity varies from lacks, depending upon fish size and ovary weight; on average it ranges from 2-3 lacks of eggs/kg BW. Rohu is a polygamous fish and also seems to be promiscuous. The optimum temperature for spawning is C. Food and feeding habits: Rohu takes food from middle layer of habitat often from surface layer. Talwar and Jhingran (1991) mentioned this fish as bottom feeder fish. Feed on both natural and supplementary feeds. This fish feed on plant matters including decaying vegetation and also well habituated in taking rice bran, wheat bran, mustard oil cake and other supplementary feed under aquaculture system. 16

17 1.5.3.Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822): (Plate 1.2- A) Synonyms: Cyprinus chaudhryi (Srivastava, 1968), Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822), Cirrhina mrigala (Day, 1878), Common name: Mrigala, mosu. Taxonomy position: Phylum- Chordata Class-Oesteichthyes Order- Cypriniformes Family- Cyprinidae Genus- Cirrhinus Speceis- mrigala Fin Formula: D. 16; P1. 17; P 2. 9; A. 8 Morphology: Body bilaterally symmetrical and streamlined, its depth about equal to length of head; body with cycloid scales, head without scales; snout blunt, often with pores; mouth broad, transverse; upper lip entire and not continuous with lower lip, lower lip most indistinct; single pair of short rostral barbels; pharyngeal teeth in three rows, 5.4.2/2.4.5 pattern; lower jaw with a small post-symphysial knob or tubercle; origin of dorsal fin nearer to end of snout than base of caudal; dorsal fin as high as body with 12 or 13 branched rays; last un-branched ray of dorsal fin non-osseous and non-serrated; pectoral fins shorter than head; caudal fin deeply forked; anal fin not 17

18 extending to caudal fin; lateral line with scales; lateral transverse scale rows 6-7/5½-6 between lateral line and pelvic fin base; usually dark grey above, silvery beneath; dorsal fin grayish; pectoral, pelvic and anal fins orange-tipped (especially during breeding season). Habit and Biology: Hatchlings of mrigala normally remain in the surface or subsurface waters, while fry and fingerling tend to move to deeper water. Adults are bottom dwellers. It is an illiophage in its feeding habit and stenophagous; detritus and decayed vegetation form its principal food components, while phytoplankton and zooplankton comprise the rest. Mrigal is eurythermal, appearing to tolerate a minimum temperature of 14 ºC. In culture, the species normally attains g in the first year, depending on stocking density and management practices. Among the three Indian major carps, mrigal normally grows more slowly than catla and rohu. The rearing period is usually confined to a maximum of two years, as growth rate reduces thereafter. However, mrigal is reported to survive as long as 12 years in natural water. Maturity is attained in two years in captivity. As mrigal needs a fluviatile environment for breeding it does not breed in ponds. However, captive breeding in hatcheries has been made possible through induced breeding by hypophysation and the use of synthetic hormones. Mrigal is a highly fecund fish. Fecundity increases with age, and normally ranges from lacks of eggs/kg BW. The spawning season depends upon the onset and duration of the south- 18

19 west monsoon, which in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan extends from May to September. Mrigal usually breeds at ºC. Food and feeding habits: Cirrhinus mrigala is a bottom dweller fish species and primarily detritus eater. Feed on both natural and supplementary feeds. Talwar and Jhingran (1991) described this species as bottom feeder and subsisting mainly on decayed vegetation. Well habituated in taking rice bran, wheat bran, mustard oil cake and other supplementary feed under aquaculture system Pangasius hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878): (Plate 1.2-B) Synonymy: Pangasius sutchi (Fowler, 1937) Local name: Pangas Taxonomy position: Phylum- Chordata Class-Oesteichthyes Order- Siluriformes Family- Pangasidae Genus- Pangasius Species -hypopthalmus Fin Formula: D 1 6-7; P ; V 1 5; A IV-V

20 Morphology: Body long, latterly flattened with no scales. Head is relatively small. Mouth is broad with small sharp teeth on jaw, vornerine and palatal bones. Eyes are relatively large. Two pairs of barbells are present, upper shorter than the lower. Fins are dark grey or black in color. Six branched dorsal-fin rays. Gill rakers normally developed. Young fish have black stripe along lateral line and another long black stripe below lateral line; large adults uniformly grey but sometimes with greenish tint and silvery sides. Dark stripe on middle of anal fin; dark stripe in each caudal lobe; small gill rakers regularly interspersed with larger ones. Pangas is a fast-growing fish, which has recently become a very popular food fish and valuable aquaculture species in South East Asia. The fish is extensively cultured by commercial fish farmers in India, Thailand and Myanmar. Further, Pangas as an air-breather is very able to tolerate poor water quality conditions. Habit and Biology: Pangasius hypophthalmus, synonymies with Pangasius sutchi a systemic revision of Pangasidae (Roberts and Vidthayanon, 1991). Commonly it is called as Pangas. This riverine freshwater species is limited to the Mekong river, the Chaopraya River and possibly the Mekong basins in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Thailand and Viet Nam, together with the Ayeyawady basin of 20

21 Myanmar. Like all Pangasiid species, pangas is a highly migratory riverine fish species that makes long-distance migrations over several hundred kilometers (potamodromous) between upstream refuge and spawning habitats and downstream feeding and nursery habitats. (Fig 1.9) Pangas is omnivorous, feeding on algae, higher plants, zooplankton, and insects, while larger specimens also take fruit, crustaceans and fish. Mature fish can reach a maximum standard total length of 130 cm and up to 4.4 kg in weight. This species is bentho-pelagic, typically living within the ranges of ph and temperature C. Females take at least three years to reach sexual maturity in captivity (being then over 3 kg in weight), while males often mature in their second year, probably taking about the same time in the wild. A mature 10 kg female can spawn over one million eggs. Wild broodstock typically spawn twice annually but in cages in Viet Nam have been recorded as spawning second time 6 to 17 weeks after the first spawning. The life cycle of pangas is intimately tied to the annual monsoon flood cycle, with spawning taking place in May - June at the start of the monsoon season. In the dry season this and other species congregate and shelter in the deeper refuge areas. The spawning habitat consists of rapids and sandbanks interspersed with deep rocky channels and pools. The eggs are sticky eggs and are deposited onto the exposed root systems of rheophilic tree species like Gimenila asiatica. Aquaculture introductions have taken place to 21

22 several other Asian countries including Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar. The first week of pangas represents the most critical period for these larvae and up to now the cannibalistic behavior was considered as main cause of mortality (Subagia et al., 1998) Inland Water Bodies Suitable for Culture in India: India is endowed with vast and varied aquatic resources (marine and Inland) amenable for capture fisheries and aquaculture. While the marine water bodies are used mainly for capture fisheries resources, the inland water bodies are widely used both for culture and capture fisheries. Most of the inland water bodies are captive ecosystems where intensive human intervention in the biological production process can be possible and thereby holding enormous potential for many fold increase in fish output. Inland water bodies include freshwater bodies like rivers, canals, streams, lakes, flood plain wetlands or beels (ox-bow lakes, back swamps, etc.), reservoirs, ponds, tanks and other derelict water bodies, and brackish water areas like estuaries and associated coastal ponds, lagoons (Chilka lake, Pulicat lake) and backwaters (Vembanad backwaters), wetlands (Bheries), mangrove swamps, etc., The inland water bodies which are used for culture and culture based fisheries are detailed hereunder. 22

23 Freshwater Bodies Ponds and Tanks There are innumerable ponds and tanks of different size, both perennial and seasonal. With the rapid development of aquaculture in the last two decades, the ponds have been increasing tremendously. Not only the waste and low-lying lands but also the vast tracts of agricultural land are being converted to myriads of fish ponds. The area under ponds and tanks available for freshwater aquaculture in India has been estimated at 2.85 million ha. Ponds and tanks are more numerous in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Tamil Nadu. The ponds offer scope for enhanced productivity through semi-intensive and intensive Aquaculture practices. Indian freshwater aquaculture has evolved from the stage of a domestic activity in West Bengal and Orissa to that of an industry in recent years, with states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, etc., taking up fish culture as a trade. With technological inputs, entrepreneurial initiatives and financial investments, pond productivity has gone up from kg/ha/yr to over 8-10 tones/ ha/year. While carps (Indian and exotic) are the main species cultured in ponds, others like catfishes, murrels, freshwater prawns and mollusks for pearl culture are also being cultured in ponds Swamps In India an estimated 0.6 million ha of water remains unutilized for fish production. This is in the form of marshes and swamps alone. Reclamation of such swamps into fish ponds is recognized as an 23

24 effective means of making them productive but difficult for fish culture from production standpoint. However, these can be made productive with the introduction of cage-culture of air breathing fishes. The success is largely due to the fact that the two main obstacles of swamp can be overcome by this. Cage culture precludes all risks of cultured fish being lost during harvesting in these weed infested waters. Secondly, selection of air breathing species of fish eliminates the danger of mass kill under conditions of de-oxygenation. A number of air-breathing fishes are indigenous to our waters, and many of these are popular as food fishes among the Indians. The important ones are: magur (Clarias batrachus), singhi (Heteropneustes fossilis), koi (Anabas testudineus), murrel (Ophiocephalus (=Channa) spp.) and chital (Notopterus spp.). An exotic fish, gourami (Osphronemus gorami) is also equally valuable for cultivation in swamps Reservoirs Reservoirs are defined as man-made impoundments created by erecting a dam of any description on a river, stream or any water course to obstruct the surface flow. However, water bodies less than 10 ha in area have been excluded from this definition. The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India classified reservoirs as small (<1000 ha), medium (1000 to 5000 ha) and large (>5000 ha) for the purpose of fishery management. Reservoirs constitute the single largest inland fisheries resource in terms of resource size and production potential. It has been estimated that India has 19,134 small reservoirs with a total water surface area of 1,485,557 ha, 180 medium reservoirs with 24

25 527,541 ha and 56 large reservoirs with 1,140,268 ha. Thus, the country has 19,370 reservoirs covering 3,153,366 ha. The medium and large reservoirs are predominantly capture systems. Although many of them are stocked, their fisheries continue to depend, to a large extent on the wild or naturalized fish stock. Conversely, small reservoirs are managed as culture-based fisheries, where the fish catch depends on stocking. More than 70% of the small reservoirs in India are small irrigation impoundments created to store stream water for irrigation. They either dry up completely or retain very little water during summer, thus ruling out any possibility of retaining broodstock for recruitment. In polyculture system, the stocking of two or more complementary fish species can increase the production of pond by the provision of the availability a wide range of different food items and the maximum pond volume utilization (Lutz, 2003). Polyculture system the selections of species play an important role for any cultural practices for the better utilization of different feeding levels of a pond ecosystem. In polyculture, each stocked fish species has its own feeding niche that does not completely depends on other species feeding niche. Complete utilization of pond area occurs in polyculture as compared to monoculture. In some cases, one species enhances the food availability for other species and thus increases the total fish yield per unit area (Miah et al., 1993; 1997; Azad et al., 2004; Jena et al., 2007). 25

26 The most important freshwater cultural fishes of India are the major Indian carps like Catla (Catla catla), Rohu (Labeo rohita) and Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala). Some exotic species such as Common carp (Cyprinus carpio), Pangas (Pangasius hypophthalmus), Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitix) are also introduced in India. In our country, suitable or common combinations of fish for composite fish culture system are Labeo rohita, Catla catla and Cirrhinus mrigala (Chakrabarti, 1998) where as the specific interactions among fish species are important in the sustenance of any polyculture system and much research work has been done on the culture of these three fish species under different treatments (Azim et al., 2001; Dhawn and Kaur, 2002a, 2000 b; Hossain et al., 2003; Keshavanath et al., 2006; Sahu et al., 2007). In the present study, catla, rohu, mrigala and pangas are stocked in polyculture systems. Indian major carps catla, rohu, mrigala are the most important freshwater fin fish species reared in India as well as Asia. The productions of these species are still experiencing a rapid expansion. These are fast growing fishes and attaining a marketable size of 800 to 1000 g in less than a year are generally used in intensive and semi-intensive line of polyculture system (Jhingran and Qullin, 1988). Pangas is highly valued as an excellent Indian aquaculture species for intensive culture because of of its ability to resist diseases, tolerance to crowding and wide range of environmental conditions. According to Milstein et al., (2003), bottom feeding fish produces a fertilizing effect through a food web that 26

27 benefits the filter feeding fishes and reduces the application of organic and inorganic fertilizers applied in the aquaculture practices. It grows rapidly with high protein contents and minimum feed co-efficient. It is considered as a target cultured fish but also play a key role in pond management. Wahab et al., (1995, 2002); Milstein et al., (2002); Alim et al., (2005) reported that the bottom feeding fish stimulate the efficiency of liming and nutrient availability in the bottom of the ponds, so its inclusion in polyculture is helpful to the farmer economically by lowering input and management costs and it also benefits the pond water ecosystem. Application of organic fertilizers, inorganic fertilizers, supplementary feed and species ratios make the maintenance of production population of natural food organism, and the maximal utilization of the productivity of the pond ecosystem. Carp culture has the ability to minimize the environmental pollution by the efficient utilization of wastes such as cow, poultry, pig, duck, goat, and sheep excreta, biogas slurry, effluents from different kinds of industries to enhance the production of natural food for carps and other cultured fish species in ponds. A review carried out by Das and Jana (1996) clearly indicated that one of the most important problems covering fish pond fertilization was the determination of the optimal account of fertilizer to be added to pond system. The highest growth and production, in ponds, treated with organic and inorganic fertilizers as compared to separate application of organic and inorganic fertilizers in carp polyculture system observed by Afzal et al., (2007). 27

28 Successful and sustainable freshwater polyculture on scientific basis principally depends upon the use of adequate, economically viable and environmentally friendly artificial feeds. Feed inputs in the single largest operational cost in majority of aquaculture practices, because of the high cost of protein usually fish growth it s directly proportional to the protein content o the feed. Sustainability is a complex idea and an abstract concept that provides a framework for interdisciplinary interaction and research. The word sustainability carries many connotations, which very as widely as the opinions of the individuals who comment or are questioned. Boyd (1999) commented the environmental management is a critical issue and that aquaculture is not truly sustainable because production relies on the external feed, chemical and energy inputs. Feed management enhances the production performance and reduces the production cost. Provision of artificial feed increased the fish growth and production in the fertilized ponds which results in higher growth rates and greater yields than fertilization alone (Diana et al., 1994). Veerina et al., (1999) stated that fertilization of organic manure and provision of supplementary feed with additives such as mineral and vitamin premix had a positive influence on the growth of major carps that contributed to high fish production. Several studies have been carried out to evaluate the effect of feeding frequency on growth, survival, feed intake, body composition, etc. in different fish species (Dwyer et al., 2002). 28

29 Commercial aquaculture started in Andhra Pradesh in the early 1980 s with an area of 14,000 ha and 80,000 tones of production. At present Andhra Pradesh aquaculture sector comprise 1,40,000 ha under cultivation 0.5 million tons of production and productivity of 4 to 9 thousand kg/ha, which ranks Andhra Pradesh second in the country for productivity of in aquaculture. A few subsistence farmers stock fry in small ponds sell fingerlings to big farmers. Most of the area under aquaculture is under large-scale production and is market oriented Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh fish culture systems consists mainly polyculture. The ponds are having with an average depth of 5-7 feet. The size of ponds varies one to five ha; they have an inlet and out let to allow water enter and to drain. Bunds are planted with coconut trees. The main species cultured in the ponds are catla, rohu and mrigala. Mrigala is raised in very small quantities and only in a Krishna and West Godavari districts. Recently, some farmers have started growing pangas, P. hypophthalmus in culture practices. Freshwater aquaculture is considered a single enterprise or stand alone activity. Some farmers practice aquaculture as part of large farming systems, where paddy farming in fertile soils is the main occupation. Different people use the term management to convey different concepts. Aquaculturist opt that to consider it as the overall technical co-operation of the farm supervision of day to day activities. Good farm management expertise is often considered the same as practical experience in the application of aquaculture field. Proper and 29

30 firmly maintenance of pond/farm and its installation, successful methods of good stock manipulation, breeding and seed production, perfect stocking, proper feeding and disease control, proper water management including the maintenance of water quality, perfection of stock from pouching, harvesting and marketing are the major elements of this concept of management. The science of farm management, which is relatively new and developed in agriculture and animal production, is based on the concept of a farm as a business and consists of application of scientific laws and principles to conduct of the farm activities (Pillay, 1993). For sustainability aquaculture or fish farming should be technically appropriate, economically viable, and socially acceptable and environmentally sound (FAO, 1988). Keeping in view of the importance of management through polyculture system and the application of fertilizers and supplementary feed, the present work has been designed to evaluate the growth performance and meat quality of Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala and Pangasius hypophthalmus under different treatments in semi intensive ponds. 30

31 Table 1.1: Export Share in Domestic Fish Production Year Marine (Lack/tons) Inland (Lack/tons) Total (Lack/tons) Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (Do.F, 2009) 31

32 Marine (Lack/tons) Inland (Lack/tons) Total (Lack/tons) Fig 1.1: Export Share in Domestic Fish Production from

33 Production (Tones x 1000) Fig 1.2: Global aquaculture production of Catla catla (FAO, 2010) Production (Tones x 1000) Fig 1.3: Global aquaculture production of Labeo rohita (FAO, 2010) 33

34 Production (Tones x 1000) Fig 1.4: Global aquaculture production of C. mrigala (FAO, 2010) Production (Tones x 1000) Fig 1.5: Global aquaculture production of P. hypophthalmus (FAO, 2010) 34

35 Fig 1.6: Main producers of Catla catla (FAO, 2010) Fig 1.7: Main producers of Labeo rohita (FAO, 2010) 35

36 Fig 1.8: Main producers of Cirrhinus mrigala (FAO, 2010) Fig 1.9: Main producers of Pangasius hypophthalmus (FAO, 2010) 36

37 Objectives of the present study: 1. To compare the survival and growth performance of catla, rohu, mrigala and pangus under polyculture systems influence of supplementary feed, fertilizers and hydrological parameters. 2. To observe the effect the different treatment on the meat composition of catla, rohu, mrigala and pangas in terms of proximate composition (moisture, protein, total fats, total carbohydrate and total ash). 3. To determine the effect of probiotics on the survival and growth of the major carps and pangas in polyculture systems. 4. To observe and record the presence of diseases during the experiments. 37