NAYlONAL SEaVINAR ON

WWNSIBLE WSHERID AQUACULTURE 'I2 - 3 3 February, 2004

SOUVENIR

Collcgc of Fisheries, OUXT, Rangailunda, Berhnmpur-760 007, Orissa, India

Oriss:~ Fisheries College Aluri~rii .Association Rnng:lilunda (OFCAAR), Ecrhampur-760 007, Orissa, India

Association ofAquacuiturists, CIFA, Rhnab3nc.sw:1r-751 002, Oriss;~. India

Central Institute of Freshwater XquacuIture, Kausal~aganga, t3iiub:lncswar-75I 002, Qrissa, India

Professional Fishcrics Graduates F'oI-u~I, CIFE, Sc.\en Burng:llo\is, \'crsos;i, IiIun~b;li--$OO 061, India

College of Fisheries; Qrissa UniversIQ of Agriculture and Technology

Rangailunda, Berhampur-760 007, Orissa, India

STATUS OF BR4CM4SWA1ATER AQUACULTLIRE IN JI!DLA A h 3 ITS FLrTURE &lathew Abraham and S. 31. Piliai

Cenfral Institlire of Brack~shvarer rlquacuitl~re, 7.5, Santhorne High Road, R. A. Puram, Cilenmi- 600 0-78, Tamil Xadu, India

1. Introduction

One o f the rapidly growing food prodxtion activities in the world is aquaculture. The quality of food produced from naier-based production system is important in planning the nutritional securiy of the people. The open seas and the land locked aquatic systems were fished to meet these requirements. This process, over a period of time, has resulted in depletion of the resources over its rejuvenation capacity. To augment production from aquatic resources, aquaculture was followed. Food production in the form of shrimps and fishes from the low lying, barren, unproductive or marginally productive coastal sa!ine lands, swamps and other brackishwater bodies is done through brackishwater!coastal aquacul:ure. Traditional brackishwzter aquaculture systems like the bheries of West Bengal, gheries of Orissa, pokkali fields of Kerala, khar lands of Karnataka and khazani fields o f Goa wherein shrimp filtration is followed is an age old practice. Modern brackishwater' aquaculture is an offshoot of the traditional aquaculture and it is largely confined to shrimp aquaculture.

India is the third largest fish producing nation with 2.5% share in world seafood export. In shrimp aquaculture, India ranks 5'511 production. Farmed shrimp contributes 60% by volume and 82% by value of teal shrimp exports.

2. Brackishwater Aquaculture-Resources and Potential

2.1 Coastal Resources

India has a long coastline o f 8 1 18 km distributed in 9 coastal states and 4 Union Territories. The biodiversity o f the coastal ecosystem of the country is rich and varied and SLipporrs a wide spectrum of species of plants and animals. There are about 3.9 million ha of estuaries and 3.5 million ha of brackish\t.ater areas available in the country. I t is estimated that about 1.2 million ha coastal area suitable for development of brackishwater aquaculture is available. In addition to this, around 8.5 million ha salt affected areas are available in the countq. Out of this, about 2.6 million ha area which are unsuitable or marginally suitablc for agriculture can be utilized for, brackish\vatcr aquaculture. The coatal mangrove areas is estimated around 0.5 million ha.

2.2 Biological Resources

The biolo_cical potential is rich ivith a variety of cuiturable species: -, They include: shrimps-Pc~ioeris 111o11odor1, Fcnncropc~7oc1~s indicus, F. ~lro.griicrsi-~, F. pe~lcil/alus, Jlcloperlneits 1~io,7occros and !i-L Fr111cI7et:.ris; finfishes - Latcs calr;rrlkr, Ep i~~epJ~e lz~s ~u~ll'jria, hh~g-i/ ccpl~nlus, Lira p u ~ ~ i a , L. nlncrolepis, L. lade, Ci!trllos chailos and E1rop111s S N ~ U I C ~ S ~ S and mud crabs - Scj,lla serrnta and S. ~rnqrrehiirica.

3. Curren t Status of Brackishwater Aquaculture

3.1 Area Dcvcloprncnt

Thc growth of brackish\va~er aquaculture is phenomenal. Out of 1.2 rniilion ha potential area available for brackishwater farming, around 68,327 ha were under culture during 1991-92, ivhich increased to 1,94,010 ha during 2001-02 inc!uding about 30,000 ha under scampi production. During ?his period, @e total shrimp production also increased substantially from 40,000 tonne in 1991-92 to 1.27.170 tonne in 2001-02 In a decade, this sector bvitnessed expansion in area of ?S4?b and ki increase of 424h in shrimp production (Table 1). Though there is rapid development in shrimp farming in the country, only 16.3% of the total estimated potential u r a has been brought under. shrimp aquaculture. t h e production rate is 655 kg%3 I\-hich is veo, low, compared to the 2000-3000 kgiha productions o f Thailand and Tail\&

A critical analysis of the development of shrimp aquaculture enterprise in the country since 1990-91 revealed that this sector is growing at an annual averas? rate of 116%. Shrimp farming developed at a faster pace during the pre-disease sc:nario since 1990-91 till 1995-96 and the growth was 108% during this period. Follon.ing the widespread outbreaks of white spot viral disease (WSSV) during 1994-96. the rate of development declined sharply to 76% for the period 1996-99. In fact. it \<.as at its nadir (2.5%) in 1998-99 and serious concerns were voiced at this time about the future of this sector. However, in the following years, the sector revived and showed steady and continuous growth irrespective of the recurrence of WSSV. Since 1999- 2000, the expansion of shrimp farming was phenomenal in the country with a gro~\?h of 171%, surpassing the growth rate \vitnessed before the disease scenario. It is heartening to note that shrimp farming is noly being taken up in other eco?.stem areas such as inland freshwater regions and arid zones utilizing underground saline waters.

3.2 Status of Technologies

Shrimp culture has undergone a series of setbacks during the last fei< >cars primariIy due to the disease outbreaks and the writ petition against commercial shrimp farming resulting in the .Apex coufl's judgment permitting only tradi~ional and improved traditional s>.stems of shrimp farming within CRZ. Aquaczlrure authority issued guidelines for the improvement of productior! and produciivi?. from

rh-se systems specihing various changes in the culture technology. Treatnent of intake water in reservoir ponds has become a necessiry in areas where more shrimp fa.ms are located in close prosimiy. Stocking densities have been reduced to 6 no.i'm2 within CRZ and 10 no./rn2 outside CRZ. Farmers have understood the inportance of the quality o f hatchery produced seed and are resorting to testing of seed for viral pathogens before stocking in the ponds. Some enterprising fanners hakt adapted minimal water exchange programme with t rea~ed water to avoid the entr) of pathogens through water or through carriers. Intensive feed management and health management methods have been prescribed to avoid excess nutrient loading an@ disease outbreak in the culture water. Wastewater treatment ponds have become mandatory for larger farins. A production level of 1 to 1.5 tonneslidcrop is expected from these systems o f culture.

Though shrimp seed production technology has been commercialized since earl! 1990s, the hatchery operators still depend on the wild spawners for the praduction of nauplii. With most of the wild broodstock are infected with i+hite spot virus, the induction o f maturitj under captive conditions has encountered serious setbacks. -&e present shrimp seed requirement is estimated to be around 12-15 billion post-larvae. which is largely met by the 237 hatcheries. By 2020, it is expected that 3,00.000 ha will be brought under shrimp farming and then the annual seed requirement will be around 30 billion post-lan,a$

Feed processing technology has also been developed indigenously and these technologies are yet to be commercialized. The major problem faced by the indigenous technology is the non-availability of quality ingredients. The locally available fish meal is very often of inferior q u a l i ~ and the feed manufacturers are importing this ingredient.

For white spot virus, CIBA has developed a simple and rapid DNA-based diagnostic technique using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for the diagnosis of nhite spot virus infection in P. monodon and P. indicus at a very early stage. The molecuiar diagnosis of [his viral disease was standardized in these shrimps using the 395 base pair CIBA primer. The know-how has already been shared with the indus:ry and a diagnostic kit has been commercialized which has reduced the cost of seed resting considersbiy.

3.3 Thrust .4reas of Research

Shrimp farming which has developed by leaps and bounds needs organized gro\\th for its sustainability and the folloiving issues require urgent research attention fdr the regulated and continuous development of this sector.

3.4 Captive Broodstock Dc~~c lopmcn t

Shrimp aquacuiturc is expanding at an average annual groi\th rate of 1 1676 in the countr). and concurrent \vi~h the expansion, there is even an increasing demand of quality shrimp seed. The esistin: 137 hatcheries are mainly dcpcndant on the sca for the spa\i,ners and very ofien this is fclt as a limiting factor in rhe operation of hatcheries. Further majority of the natural spawners are infected with diseases. Studies conducted by ClBA have rc\'eaii.d that 30-70% o f ihe wild broodstock of ?. n~onodon from both the coasts are infected with WSSV. Funher it is estimated that about 6100.000 shrimp broodstock will Ire required by 2020. Raising of disease free shrimp broodstock in land-based s),stcms under captive bio-secure nlanagerncnt conditions is the only alternative to ensure availability of disease free broodstock. This vvill prevent vertical transmission of the disease through mother shrimps and facilitate production of quality post-ianae free of pathogens.

CISA has already succeeded in raising disease free F2 generation of .if japor?iclts and raised P. monodon broodstock from post-larvae under con~rollcd conditions. Further studies are urgently needed to develop specific pa tho~en free broodstock.

3.5 Management of shrimp farm wastewater

Production of healthy shrimps is directly related to the hygiene of the production unit. Soil and water qualit) of shrimp ponds determine to a great estent the successful raising of shrimp crop. A majority of the social and environmental issues and disease outbreaks are attributed to poor water quality management. Sustainability of brackishwater aquaculture is dependant on solving the problem of water use and wastewater disposal. Bioremediation measures ernplo),ing probiotic and other biological products (agricultural by-produce) are to be standardized to treat shrimp farm wastewater.

3.6 Disease Prevention and Control bleasures

There is an increasing trend among shrimp farmers to apply chemicals and drugs into shrimp ponds without the basic knowledge on their usefulness. Since a number of antibiotics were banned for use in aquaculture, there is an urgent need to educate and create awareness among farmers about the futility of their use and the harmful effects they may cause to the organisi~ls and the environment. In addition, R&D efforts should be strengthened for surveillance, monitoring, prevention and control of diseases. Research in areas like integrated nutrient supply, biofertilizers, bioaugmentors, immunostimuiants and biopesticides should be given importznce.

3.7 Alternative Aquaculture

Brackishwater aquaculture that is currently practiced in the county is shrimp farming that is largely centred around one species, P. monodon. In the light of WSSV

infection that is experienced as a perpetual problem, farmers are looking out for of shrimps, fishes and crabs for culture. CIBA has already s~andardized

hatchcv secd production technology of seabass, ~ a i e s calcarifcr and propagating its cu/rurc in different ago-climatic regions of the c o u n t j . Limited success has already

J been achieved in the seed producrion of mud crab, Scj.lla t ro iq~ i~bo ica . ~:~ndardizat ion of culture techniques for mullets. pearl spot, seabass and crabs are urgcntljr needed.

3.8 Development of 'Eco-friendly' Fced

In view of the scarce aiailability of quality fish meal, studies on alternate source for the shrimp feed are being car ied out at CIBA. CIB.4 has

developed cost-effective feed for gro~+.-out culture of shrimps. Further, studies on the deielopment of eco-friendl). feeds with reduced protein levels and high energy content need to be developed with a view to reduce the nutrient loading due to feed to protect the environment.

3.9 Environment Monitoring and Carrying CapaciQ Studies

Environment rnonitorin,o, carrying capacity of the source creek and the level of operation of shrimp farms are to be studied in detail to understand the carqing capacity level. Though effluent treatment has become mandatory in large farms: small farmers do not have resources to develop bioponds in their farms. Ir, such cases, where large numbers of small farmers are operating their shrimp farms. a co- operative method o f effluent treatment should be initiated by the Government agencies to sustain the shrimp culture activities.

Tablc I . State-wise tletails of sllri~np farming irl1NDIA

Source: MPEDA A= Area under culture in ha P= Eslimated production in tonne Neg.= Negligible