This is the first attempt for cage culture in Marathwada Maharashtra State, Results of the experiments showed that Marathwada can be potential area for cage culture. The growth performance of Catla catla, in natural and in artificial feeding cages in terms of final weight, weight gain percentage, specific growth rate (SGR %), Daily growth rate (DGR), survival rate and total production was described in text. Their final weight was 6.25±0.62, 10.39±4.18, 22.06±8.14, 38.69±20.2, 64.73± 17.7 and 111±17.2gm for I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively in natural feeding cage. Their final weight was 7.98±1.23, 15.27±3.75, 42.53±9.23, 84.83±19.85, 182.96±21.14 and 260±11.77 gm recorded in I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively. In natural feeding cage, mean weight 111 gm of Catla catla was attained whereas in supplementary feeding cage 260 gm was recorded in 180 days of culture period. The total fish production of Catla catla in 180 days in cage culture with natural feeding was 7.8 kg. Whereas it was 20.3 kg in supplementary feeding cage
Keywords: Cage culture; Catla catla; Nanded; Marathwada; Daily growth rate
Aquaculture is the use of water resources for growing aquatic organisms under controlled conditions for economic and social benefits. Although it is not agriculture, it can make a unique contribution to nutrition by virtue of its extremely high productivity and protein content [2]. Aquaculture is a growing industry that strives to optimize and intensify traditional fish rearing techniques to supply much needed protein for humans, but also meet the needs of luxury demand and it contributed 51.7 million tonnes to total world production, including 31.6 million tons from inland waters [12]. Fish is one of the important sources of high-quality protein and provides at least 2.9 billion people with around 15% of their dietary protein [12]. Fish and fish oils are also a balanced source of protein components and essential fatty acids contents in human diets [19]. Fish and fishery products are of substantial social and economic importance and are worth around US$170 billion annually and employ up to 47.5 million people worldwide [12]. Due to increasing world population and decline of production from capture fisheries, aquaculture is expected to play a crucial role in meeting the increased demand of high quality protein rich food [8]. More than half of the world’s aquaculture production is from freshwater [12] and the bulk of production occurs in the world’s most popular nations, such as China and India [11].
, in natural and in artificial feeding cages in terms of final weight, Indian share in the global production has reached 4.36 percent with 9.92 percent share in inland and 2.8 percent in marine in 2009. For inland sector India is ranked second after China [28].
The origin of cage culture is a little vague. It can be assumed that at the beginning fishermen may have used the cages as holding structures to store the captured fish until they are sent to the market. The first cage which was used for producing fish was developed in Southeast Asia at the end of the 19th century. Wood or bamboos were used to construct these cages and the fish were fed by trash fish and food scraps. In 1950s modern cage culture began with the initiation of production of synthetic materials for cage construction. Cage culture is common in central and South East Asian countries such as China, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand [3-6].
Fish production in cages became highly popular among the small or limited resource farmers who are looking for alternatives to traditional agricultural crops. Cage culture is advantageous for farmers as it offers a chance to maximum utilization of existing water resources. Therefore, the farmers do not have to invest on accumulating water. Cage aquaculture has certain advantages over other aquaculture systems that are potentially important in terms of uptake by rural poor and landless people. The integrity of cage unit means that large, communal water bodies can be used effectively and the ability to culture fish is not reliant on the ownership or water body can be achieved, landless people can grow fish in cages and obtain nutrition and income from the fish produced. In addition a common problem in traditional pond culture is that of multiple ownership. In cage aquaculture the ownership issue is very simple, in that owners of the cages are the owners of the fish within. Generally fish in cages do not escape, provided a top net is present and the cage remained undamaged. Cages also exclude predators and caged fish are easily managed and harvested. The culture of fish in cages can therefore be described as a promising aquaculture technology already proven in many other Asian countries [9].
The origin of the use of cages for holding and transporting fish for short periods can be traced back to almost two centuries ago in the Asian region [24]. Several species of marine fishes such as E. tauvina, L. calcarifer and Lutjanus sp. are cultured in cages in Singapore [17]. On the basis of the reported information, the major cage culture producers in 2005 are: Norway (652, 306 tonnes), Chile (588, 060 tonnes), Japan (272, 821 tonnes), United Kingdom (135, 253 tonnes), Vietnam (126, 000 tonnes), Greece (76, 577 tonnes), Turkey (78, 924 tonnes) and Philippines (66, 249 tonnes) [25].
In India freshwater fishes raised in cages are essentially from family cyprinids comprising Indian major carps (Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala), exotic common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix). Catfishes of the families Bogridae (Mystus Seenghala), Siluridae (Ompok bimaculatus), Anabantidae.(Anabas testudineus) and Heteropneustidae (Heteropneustes fossilis) have also given encouraging results when cultured in cages, especially the last 3 air breathing species. Cage culture of murrels (Channidae), viz. Channa punctatus, Channa marulius and Channa striatus, has also been occasionally tried. During the last decade, culture of different fish species in cages was actively pursued. The species selected for cage culture, limnological conditions, types of cages, construction material, cage dimension and feed formulation varied very much in the experiments so far conducted in different ecosystems [14].
In India cage culture was attempted for the first time in cage of air breathing fishes like Heteropneustes fossilis, Anabas testudineus in swamps [10]. At Powai Lake, Mumbai shows that, Labeo rohita grew from 3.24 gm to 54.72 gm within 43 days with survival of 50.72%. Whereas during the same period Cyprinus carpio with a 3 density 50 No/m grew from 0.293 gm to 31.34 gm with a survival of 75.26% [15]. [7] Conducted study to determine and compare the growth and survival of Labeo rohita fry reared at different stocking densities in cages for optimization of stocking rate in Beel of Assam. Another experiment conducted by [21] on Growth, survival and production of carps fingerlings under different stocking densities in cages and pens in Dimbhe Marathwada is one of the most important parts of Maharashtra state. Fresh water resources of Marathwada are rivers, reservoirs, ponds, lakes, etc. out of them river Godavari is the important river and many projects are constructed in the basin of river Godavari and its tributaries such as Jayakwadi (Aurangabad), Mazalgaon (Beed), Purna Yeldari (Parbhani), Lower Terna (Beed), Purna Siddheshwar (Hingoli), Manar (Nanded) and Manjra (Latur) etc. and many more are being constructed in this river system. These projects are used to perform various activities such as irrigation, agriculture, domestic, industrial and aquaculture etc.
These resources can be used for Cage culture as cage culture practice in Marathwada is yet to start. If culture of fishes in cages becomes successful then this will be a boon for fishermen and will open a new chapter in fisheries development of Maharashtra. Hence this study was undertaken which will lead to “BLUE” revolution.
One of the largest lift irrigation projects in Asia was constructed on the river Godavari, at Asarjan, Dist. Nanded for irrigation and water supply, in the year 1988. The back water of this project at Dhangar Takli 19°7'12"N 77°3'28"E was selected as a study area.
Site selection is the most important part of the cage culture. Proper site will reduce most of the problems arising during the culture period and also reduce the cost of culture.
Lakes, reservoirs, ponds, quarries, rivers and streams can be used as potential sites provided that they should have adequate water with sufficient depth, so that cage can be arranged in this sediment free water. The cage units should be built to withstand against prevailing wind and wave conditions. Good water exchange is also an important factor to replenish oxygen and flush away wastes. Considering these factors we surveyed 40 km back water area for selection and then, Dhangar Takli, a small village situated on the bank of Godavari river was selected. It is about 8 km from Purna (Dist. Parbhani) on Nanded – Purna road.
Cages were fabricated from strong, durable, and nontoxic iron material with suitable size mesh. The cage mesh should allow maximum flow of water through it and adequate flowing of oxygenated water is good for health of the fish and removes wastes from the cage.
Normally cage components consist of a frame, mesh or netting, feeding ring, lid, and floats. Cage may be round, square, or rectangular and all the materials which are used to fabricate according to the type of cage. The size of experimental cages was 6’ X 4’ X 4’ and it was kept in submerged condition. Study area was the back water of Shankar Sagar reservoir. Farmers use this water for irrigation. The frame of the cages was made from iron square pipes by doing gas welding. The size of the mesh net was 1.8 cm and it was so small that it allows water to enter in the cages and prevents escape of fishes from cages. An opening was kept at the top for handling the fishes and also to provide food to them.
All sides of cages were covered with mesh except bottom. The galvanized sheet was fixed at the bottom by using nut and bolt. After fabrication cages were painted by using red oxide and sky blue oil paint, the mesh sheet was fixed to the frame with the help of binding wire. Feeding ring was fitted at the upper side of cage.
According to ecological niches and economic importance Catla catla was selected for culture in cages.
Fingerlings of Catla catla was collected from Talni Pvt. Fish Seed farm. Tq. Biloli Dist. Nanded. Fingerlings was conditioned and brought in oxygenated polythene bag. Before stocking, length and weight of individual fish was measured and kept in different sets, one set with artificial food and second set was without artificial food i.e. with natural food. The stocking density was 100 fingerling/72 cubic foot. (Table No. 2)
After stocking fishes were fed with commercial pelleted feed brought from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Karda Tq. Risod Dist. Washim, as per their body weight i. e. 5% of their body weight, in the morning hours at 7:00 am every day.
Feeding Once in a day 5% body No artificial feeding weight Feed Pellet feed Natural food ingredients
Cages were cleaned regularly before feeding, to remove dead fishes, uneaten food etc. to keep the environment good for fish. The cages were lifted partially from water every 8 days before feeding, to check the damage and remove algal blooms.
At regular interval fishes were harvested by a hand net from the cages to record length and body weight in cm and gm respectively.
Fingerlings were cultured in cages for 180 days.
During the study important limnological parameters such as Temperature, pH, Transparency, Total alkalinity, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Free Carbon dioxide (CO ), 2 Chloride, Hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, and Productivity were analyzed by using standard method as suggested in [1].
The growth performance of Catla catla, in natural and in artificial feeding cages in terms of final weight, weight gain percentage, specific growth rate (SGR %), Daily growth rate (DGR), survival rate and total production are shown in table No.1 & 2.
The mean initial length of Catla catla was 2, 6.5, 9, 12.7, 17.7 and 20.4 cm for I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively. Their mean final length was 6.5±0.52, 9±1.10, 12.7±1.09, 17.7±1.41, 20.4±1.42 and 23.3±1.81 cm for I st, II nd, III rd, IV th, V th and VI th months. Their final weight was 6.25±0.62, 10.39±4.18, 22.06±8.14, 38.69±20.2, 64.73± 17.7 and 111±17.2gm for I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively in natural feeding cage.
In artificial feeding cage, the mean initial length was 2.1, 7.8, 10.2, 14.8, 20.3 and22.4 cm their mean final length was 7.8±0.44, 10.2±0.94, 14.8±0.82, 20.3±1.08, 22.4±1.21 and 26±0.87 cm in I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively. Their final weight was 7.98±1.23, 15.27±3.75, 42.53±9.23, 84.83±19.85, 182.96±21.14 and 260±11.77 gm recorded in I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively. In natural feeding cage, mean weight 111 gm of Catla catla was attained whereas in supplementary feeding cage 260 gm was recorded in 180
Weight gain % is one of the important growth parameter. In natural feeding cage, the percentage of weight gain was 212.5, 66.24, 112.3, 75.38, 67.30 and 71.48% whereas in supplementary feeding the weight gain percentage was 262.7, 91.35, 178.5, 99.45, 115.6 and 42.10 % in I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively. Specific growth rates (SGR) The variations of specific growth rates (SGR) with treatments are given in Table 1 and 2. The treatments in natural feeding attained the least mean
The fish attained the maximum mean SGR 256.8%/day/fish and the minimum mean SGR 19.2%/day/fish among the supplementary feeding cage. In natural cage had significantly lower specific growth
Mean daily growth rates were calculated between natural feeding cage and supplementary cage. The maximum (mean) (1.54 gm / day) and minimum (mean) (0.13gm /day) daily growth rates were observed in natural cage, A
Mortality of the fish in natural feeding cage was high as compared to supplementary feeding cage. In supplementary feeding cage 22 fishes were dead in first week. Afterwards there was no mortality among the fishes. In natural feeding cage, 29 fishes died during the
Survival rate was 71% for natural feeding cage, whereas it was 78% in Supplementary feeding cage. Most of the deaths were encountered in the first fifteen days of the
The total weight gained (yield) for each treatment per cage is reported in Table 1 and 2. The weight increases were significantly different with and without supplementary feeding experiments. The total fish production of Catla catla in 180 days in cage culture with natural feeding was 7.8 kg. Whereas it was 20.3 kg in
The one way ANOVA was tested for length of Catla catla the natural feed caged fishes and supplement feed caged fishes described in Figure 15. The Welch’s corrected t test was 11.33 whereas degree of freedom was 98.22, these results were found significant at P <0.05.
The F test performed for comparison of variance this was also significantly different i.e. P <0.05 for length of Catla
In relation to weight the P-value calculated by using one way ANOVA depicted in Figure 14.1. The P-value for the weight was significantly different i. e. P <0.05. The Welch’s corrected t test was 61.77 and the degree of freedom was 122.1 observed at 95% confidence interval. The comparison of variances for F-test F value, degree of freedom numerator (Dfn) and (Dfd) were 2.141, 70 and 77 respectively. The P-value observed was 0.0012 and hence the weight of the Catla catla was significantly different in natural feed and artificial feed caged fishes. Hence this study shows significant difference.
Water quality parameters were analyzed in this
have occurred in response to cage culture. Physical parameters like temperature, pH and transparency and chemical parameters such as dissolved oxygen (DO), Free Carbon dioxide (CO ), Chloride, Alkalinity, Hardness, 2 Calcium and Magnesium were measured for monthly Months pH Temperature Transparency DO ( C) (cm) mg/L also did cage culture of prawns and suggested that cage culture technique has number of advantages for fish culture and the endangered fish species can be culture in cages. Kumaraiah [16] studied the effects of stocking density of advanced fingerlings (46 g) of L. rohita in grow out culture for 89 days in circular floating cages (1 m2 area). They concluded that the optimum stocking 2 density could be between 30 and 50 fish/m , without considering the profitability under different stocking densities. It is obvious that the stocking density of a species is considered optimum when it fetches both higher production and profit.
interval throughout the study period. All the parameters were more or less within the acceptable range for fish culture. Mean values (±SD) of water quality parameters of different treatments are shown in Table 3.
CO Chloride Alkalinity Hardness Calcium Magnesium mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L
The rearing and raising of fishes in cages is gaining importance all over the world because of its increasing technical, ecological, social and economic advantages over the capture fisheries and conventional aquaculture. Hence the workshop was organized to introduce the idea of fish culture in cages among the fish farmers, businessman, teacher’s researchers and students so that activity of fish culture will increase. That would also contribute to countering of the ongoing declining trend in capture fisheries. This will help for addition of another chapter “BLUE” revolution in Marathwada.
This workshop was organized on 06/09/2013 with collaboration with College of Fishery Science, Tq. Udgir Dist. Latur. (MAFSU, Nagpur). 150 plus participants were present for workshop. During the workshop Dr. Ajay Kulkarni, Asst. Prof, College of Fishery Science, Tq. Udgir. Dist. Latur, Dr. S. P. Chavan, Asso. Prof. School of Life Sciences, S. R. T. M. University, Nanded and Dr. A. N. Kulkarni, Asst. Prof. & Head Dept of Fishery Science, N. E. S. Science College, Nanded, had delivered their plenary lectures on cage culture and importance of cage culture in this area.
After this a demonstration was arranged at college fish tank, in demonstration all information was given to the participants i.e. construction of cage, suitable species for culture, artificial feed etc. after this workshop many fish farmers were interacted with us for cage culture but due to scarcity of rain from last 4 years they couldn’t start their cage culture yet. For that purpose training programme, workshops for manufacture of cage material and structure by locally available material can be organized. This will reduce the cost of construction and generate employment opportunities.
This is the first attempt for cage culture in Marathwada, Results of the experiments showed that Marathwada can be potential area for cage culture.
Considering the objective of providing cheap animal protein for household consumption, intensification through high-cost culture methods requires more extensive economical evaluations. Thus, under the ecosocio-economical condition of India, where a large number of freshwater impoundments are available for aquaculture, rearing of Catla catla through cage culture may be considered as the ideal method of choice for a sustainable fish production. For a country like India with enormous population, cage culture is most needed intensively in order to meet the future food demands and also to improve the aquaculture business.
It is found that all the studied hydro biological parameters are within the permissible limits for culture of fishes in cages.
Idea of cage culture is unknown to the fishermen and businessman of this region hence more extension programme is required at root level so that people will accept this culture techniques.
Successful cage aquaculture of this species may bring about socioeconomic sustainability of the rural people. Raising fry to fingerlings in the cages for stocking in the reservoirs is the need of the day. Therefore this technology is to be demonstrated in large scale.
Training programme, workshops for manufacture of cage organized. This will reduce the cost of construction and generate employment opportunities.
All the water bodies of Marathwada can be developed for the promotion of cage culture activity.
The first author is thankful to UGC (SA) New Delhi for Award of Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for carry out this research work. Authors are thankful to Principal, N.E.S. Science College, Nanded for providing facilities & continuous encouragement during study.