8/20/2019 Catfish production in India: Present status and prospects

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C

atfish, which is a significant group of the fishes in

wetlands, are economically important with a high nutrient

value. Catfishes, owing to their unique taste, few bones,

are considered a delicacy for the fish consumers, but

production of different indigenous catfishes through aquaculture isunexplored in India, although aquaculture contribution of some of

the catfish varieties like Ictalurus, Silurus and Clarias spp. has been

exemplary in the World scenario.

Catfishes are the second major group of freshwater fishes. India,

being a mega-diverse country, harbors 197 catfish species from 52

genera. The Indian families include Amblycipitidae (Torrent catfishes),

Akysidae (Stream catfishes), Bagridae (Bagrid catfishes), Chacidae

(Square head or angler catfish), Clariidae (Air breathing catfishes),

Heteropneustidae (Air-sac catfishes), Olyridae (Long-tail catfishes),

Pangasiidae (Shark catfishes), Plotosidae (Eel-tail catfishes), Schilbeidae

(Schilbid catfishes), Siluridae (Sheat fishes), Sisoridae (Sisorid catfishes).

Present statusConsidering the high market demand for catfish and the avail-

ability of a huge potential resource in the form of many inland water

resources, commercial farming of these species is presently receiving

important attention. In India catfish production is coming from both the

systems of inland resources i.e. capture and aquaculture.

Capture: The inland water resources of the country are in terms

of rivers, estuaries, backwaters and lagoons, reservoirs, floodplain

wetlands and upland lakes, which contribute about 1.05 million

 tonnes of fish annually. The principal rivers of India as Yamuna, Ganga,

Brahmaputra, Mahanandi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery including

 their main tributaries and distributaries harbors about 11.5 percentof the fish fauna so far know in the world. Many of the catfish species

start from 15 grams size (Mystus tengara) to very large about 50 Kg size

(Hemibagrus maydelli) harvested from these water sources in India.

And many of the well-known food catfishes are also fine sporting fishes.

Aquaculture: Ponds and tanks are the prime resources for freshwa-

 ter aquaculture; however, only about 40 percent of the available area

is used for aquaculture currently. In northern India, open waters with

in-flows are common, while southern India has watersheds, termed as

 tanks, largely used for crop irrigation along with carp fish culture.

After carps, cat-fish production is also

increasing tremen-

dously throughout the

India since 2001 (Table:

1). Out of 197 catfish

species available in

Indian region, about 30

catfish species are eco-

nomical and which are

produced mainly from

capture fishery, and a

couple of catfish spe-

cies are produced from

both the aquaculture

and capture fishery in

 the country (Table: 2).

There are six catfish

Table 1: Catsh production in India from

2001 to 2010

Year Inland sh

production

(in tonnes)

Catsh

production

(in tonnes)

Catsh

%

2001 3084247 78367 2.54

2002 3165927 101488 3.20

2003 3220407 106282 3.30

2004 3527505 78990 2.23

2005 3727375 132342 3.55

2006 3750736 130027 3.46

2007 4170560 125800 3.01

2008 3799563 174503 4.59

2009 4660463 179843 3.85

2010 5077200 212462 4.18

Table 3: Commercially cultured Catsh species in India.

Sl.

No.

Family Common Name Scientic Name

1 Clariidae Magur Clarias batrachus (Linnaeus)

2 Clariidae African catsh

or Thai magur

Clarias gariepinus (Burchell)

3 Heteropneustidae Singhi or stinging catsh  Heteropneustes fossilis

4 Siluridae Butter catsh Ompok bimaculatus

5 Pangasiidae Pangas Pangasius pangasius

6 Pangasiidae Sutchi catsh Pangasianodon

hypophthalmus

 Catfish production in India: P r e  s e n  t   s  t a  t  u  s  a n  d     p r o  s   p e c  t  s by Dr B. Laxmappa, Fisheries Development Officer, Department of Fisheries,

16 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | September-October 2015

EATURE

8/20/2019 Catfish production in India: Present status and prospects

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species are cultured in India (Table 3). Among six, only two catfish

species viz. Pangasianodon and African catfish culture is intensified in

 the country due to its higher production rates by using various local

as well as commercial feeding methods. Of late, Government of India

permitted culture of Pangasianodon and Tilapia species laying down

strict guidelines as an alternative crop to carp fishes.

Pangasius sutchi or Pangasianodon hypophthalmus one of the swift

growing catfishes was first introduced into India in the year 1995–1996

in the state of West Bengal from Thailand through Bangladesh. Initially

farming was carried out in limited area in the States of West

Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. This fish grows to 1–1.5 kg dur-

ing one year. A minimum of 10–15 tonnes/hectare/year is

harvested through due to culture of this fish.

In commercial culture of Pangasianodon farmers are using

both pelleted and extruded feeds. Due to high feed cost and

fluctuation in production costs, in some areas farmers are usinglocal feeds like cooked corn grains, broken rice, chicken waste

etc.

African catfish or Thai magur, Clarias gariepinus culture was banned

in India under Environment Protection Act. But many fishermen still

cultivating this banned catfish illegally in village ponds to make a quick

buck. This species was clandestinely introduced into the state of West

Bengal possibly during 1994 from neighboring Bangladesh and quickly

spread throughout the country, including into cold regions as well as

coastal areas. It is largely cultured in the states of West Bengal, Punjab,

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and

Telangana. Clarias gariepinus is usually fed waste intestines and skin of

chickens so it grows fast than compared toother local species catfish or carp’s fish with

low feeding cost.

ProspectsAquaculture in India has become an indus-

 try since late eighties with several entre-

preneurs taking up aquaculture with carps,

catfishes and prawns. Of late, Government

of India has also identified catfish farming as

a National Priority and has emphasised on

diversification of culture practices. The major

chunk of catfish, however, comes from cap-

 ture resources, which includes air breathing

as well as non-air-breathing varieties. Air-

breathing catfishes have greater potentiality to

utilise shallow, swampy, marshy and derelict

water-bodies for aquaculture; whereas non-

air-breathing catfishes can be well suited to

normal pond environment.

Among the catfishes magur, Clarias batra-

chus is the only species that has received

much attention. Singhi, Heteropneustes fos-

silis is another air-breathing catfish species

being cultured to a certain extent in swamps

and derelict water bodies, especially in theeastern states. In recent years, attempts have

been made to develop the culture of non-air

breathing catfishes like Pangasius pangasius,

 Wallagoattu, Aorichthys seenghala, A. aor and

Ompok pabda.

Table 2: Important commercial Catsh species and source of production in India

Sl.

No.

Species Family Source of

production

Common name Scientic name

1 Gangetic mystus  Mystus cavasius (Hamilton)   Bagridae Capture

2 Day’s mystus  Mystus bleekeri (Day)   Bagridae Capture

3 Tengara mystus  Mystus tengara (Hamilton)   Bagridae Capture

4 Gogra rita  Rita gogra (Sykes)   Bagridae Capture

5 Giant river catsh  Aorichthys seenghala (Sykes)   Bagridae Capture

6 Long-whiskerd catsh  Aorichthys aor (Hamilton)   Bagridae Capture

7 Krishna mystus  Hemibagrus maydelli (Rossell)   Bagridae Capture

8 Indian butter-catsh Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch) Siluridae Capture

9 Pabdah catsh Ompok pabda (Hamilton) Siluridae Capture & Aquaculture

10 Boal Wallago attu (Bloch & Schneider) Siluridae Capture

11 White catsh Silonia children (Sykes) Schilbidae Capture

12 Khavalchor catsh  Neotropius khavalchor Kulkarni Schilbidae Capture

13 Goongwaree vacha  Eutropiichthys goongwaree

(Sykes)

Schilbidae Capture

14 Indian potasi Pseudeutropius atherinoides

(Bloch)

Schilbeidae Capture

15 Gangetic goonch  Bagarius bagarius (Hamilton) Sisoridae Capture

16 Stinging catsh  Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch) Heteropneustidae Capture & Aquaculture

17 Magur Clarias batrachus (Linnaeus) Clariidae Capture & Aquaculture

18 African catsh Clarias gariepinus (Burchell)* Clariidae Aquaculture

19 Pungas Pangasius pangasius (Hamilton)   Pangasidae Capture

20 Sutchi catsh Pangasianodon hypophthalmus*   Pangasidae Aquaculture

*Exotic species

September-October 2015 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 17

FEATURE