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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Aquatic Foods
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1506096

Effectiveness of pen aquaculture in enhancing small scale fisheries production and conservation in a wetland of India Authors

Provisionally accepted
Gunjan Karnatak Gunjan Karnatak 1Basanta Kumar Das Basanta Kumar Das 1*Aparna Roy Aparna Roy 1Pranaya Kumar Parida Pranaya Kumar Parida 2Archan Kanti Das Archan Kanti Das 1Lianthuamluia Lianthuamluia Lianthuamluia Lianthuamluia 1Anjana Ekka Anjana Ekka 1Sangeeta Chakraborty Sangeeta Chakraborty 1Kausik Mondal Kausik Mondal 1Sanjeet Debnath Sanjeet Debnath 1
  • 1 Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR), Kolkata, India
  • 2 Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The present study deals with stakeholder-driven implementation of pen culture for raising of fish seed for Culturebased fisheries (CBF) in Chamta, a floodplain wetland, in Gangetic plains through polyculture of Indian Major Carps (IMCs) Labeo catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala with Small Indigenous Fishes (SIFs) Labeo bata, Systomus sarana and grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella in co-management mode. In the first polyculture trial IMCs and minor carps were cultured in 4 High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) pens (0.1ha each) at a stocking density of 25 Nos. m -3 in equal numbers for 90 days. In the second polyculture trial IMCs were cultured with grass carp at a density of 25 Nos. m -3 in 4 HDPE pens in the ratio of 1:1:1:2 for 90 days. The same set of pens was utilized for both trials during different times of the year. Net yield of 682.3±20.6 kg and 413.9±21.7 kg per pen was achieved through polyculture of IMCs and SIFs and polyculture and for IMCs and grass carp, respectively.The survival percentage varied with species and culture period with overall survival of 77 (IMCs + minor carps) to 85% (IMCs + grass carp). Polyculture was economically feasible with a BC ratio of 2.01 for IMC and SIFs and 1.88 for IMC and grass carp. All the seeds produced in the pens were released to the wetland as input for CBF.The study indicated the potential of grass carp fishery in macrophyte-infested wetland. The species could attain 1.5-2kg in 6 months and up to 3-3.5 kg weight within 1 year, utilizing macrophyte resources of the wetland. SIFs S. sarana and L. bata were observed to attain maturity in pens. The study indicated pen as an economically feasible technology to boost CBF in the wetland. The cultivation of SIFs through pen culture and CBF can enhance their production while alleviating pressure on their natural populations. Integrating pen culture using diversified species will promote sustainable fisheries management in these floodplain wetlands.

    Keywords: wetland, Pen culture, Culture-based fisheries, Macrophyte management, Small indigenous fishes, production and conservation

    Received: 07 Oct 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Karnatak, Das, Roy, Parida, Das, Lianthuamluia, Ekka, Chakraborty, Mondal and Debnath. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Basanta Kumar Das, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR), Kolkata, India

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