Open Sea Floating Cage Farming of Lobsters Successful Demonstration by CMFRI off Kanyakumari Coast

Lobsters. a seafood item, are highly relished throughout the world. In India, lobsters are mostly available in rocky " coastal habitats. Impacted by their delicious taste, the demand for lobsters is increasing at a fast rate in the national as well as international markets

Histomorphology and immunohistochemistry of adenocarcinoma and fibroma in Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes, 1847) from Palk Bay, Southeast coast of India

A single specimen of Indian oil sardine Sardinella longiceps was observed with wart-like appearances in three different regions of the fish: one on the premaxillary part, and other two on the skin and at the vent region respectively. Mucosal tissues were expunged and preserved in 10 % neutral phosphate-buffered formalin for histological examination. Based on the histopathological analysis, lesions were identified as adenocarcinoma and fibroma on the premaxillary part and skin, respectively. Based on the immunohistochemistry, vimentin and cytokeratin-like proteins were demonstrated, suggesting that the wart-like extrusions were fibroma and adenocarcinoma respectively

Broodstock development through regulation of photoperiod and controlled breeding of silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801) in India

The silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii is recognised as a promising species for mariculture. In India, broodstock development, controlled breeding and seed production of silver pompano was achieved for the first time at Mandapam Regional Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. Sub-adult fishes collected from the wild were grown in circular sea cages of 6 m diameter and 3.5 m depth. Twelve fishes were selected from a sea cage and acclimatized to laboratory conditions. Among these, four fishes (1 female and 3 males) were pre-conditioned to sexual maturity in a 10 t FRP tank with photoperiod control facility (2000 lux; 14 L: 10 D). In about 2 months, the gonads reached right stage for spawning. The brooders were administered human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) intramuscularly, at a dosage of 350 IU kg body weight-1. A total of 5 experiments were conducted and successful spawnings were obtained resulting in the production of fertilized eggs. The time taken for spawning ranged from 30-36 h. The total number of eggs spawned ranged from 0.08 to 0.184 million. The fertilization percentage varied from 75 to 95. Freshly spawned eggs measured above 900 μ. The success obtained in all the consecutive five experiments indicated that predictable spawnings of pompano could be achieved by employing the techniques developed

Cage culture of the spiny lobster Panulirus homarus (Linnaeus) at Vizhinjam, Trivandrum along the south-west coast of India

The potential for using floating sea cage for the aquaculture of spiny lobster, Panulirus homarus was assessed by rearing them in two different holding systems such as land-based FRP tanks and a large floating cage moored at Vizhinjam Bay along the south-west coast of India. Lobsters were reared for a period of 120 and 135 days in the tanks and cage, respectively and regularly fed on small/medium sized live mussels (Perna indica), in order to evaluate their growth, survival and feasibility for culture. Juvenile lobsters with average weight of 114.8±25.67 g in the cage grew to an average weight of 225.95±42.7 g in 135 days. The weight increase recorded was 0.82 g day-1 with a percentage weight gain of 96.68 in the cage whereas juvenile lobsters in tanks with an average weight of 77.87±15.87 g attained 137.35±30.07 g with a weight increase of 0.48 g day-1 and percentage weight gain of 69.2%. The specific growth rates achieved in lobsters maintained in FRP tanks and in the sea cage were 0.45% and 0.50% of the body weight per day respectively. The hydrological parameters viz., temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen and microbial load recorded were at the optimal levels for normal growth of lobsters. Bio-foulers on the cage unit were represented by ascidians, barnacles, sponges, polychaetes, brown mussels, oysters and seaweeds, which did not affect the performance of the lobsters as indicated by the significant growth advantages and better survival (75%) of juvenile spiny lobsters in the cage over the tank systems (71%)

Evaluation of growth and production performance of hatchery produced silver pompano Trachinotus blochii (Lacépède, 1801) fingerlings under brackishwater pond farming in India

Growth, survival and production performance of hatchery produced silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii, (Lacépède, 1801) fingerlings were evaluated in a brackishwater pond in Anthervedi, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India. A total of 3,400 fingerlings of silver pompano (30.59 ± 0.24 mm mean length and 2.00 ± 0.04 g mean weight) were stocked in a one acre pond (0.4047 ha) with salinity of 8 ± 1.2 ppt. The salinity gradually increased to 24 ± 1.8 %0 during the farming period due to high saline intake water. Fishes were fed with extruded floating pellet feed containing 50 to 30% crude protein and 10 to 6% crude fat. After 240 days of culture, 1,305 kg of silver pompano were harvested. The survival rate was 91.32%. Mean length of the harvested fishes was 296.88 ± 6.27 mm and mean body weight 464.65 ±10.25 g. The absolute and specific growth rate obtained were 1.93 g day-1 and 2.27% per day respectively with an FCR of 1:1.83. The results revealed that farming of T. blochii in brackishwater pond is technically feasible

Live feed culture- Phytoplanktons

Live feeds are the main items in the diet of cultured fish larvae and they are of particular importance when rearing marine fish larvae of the altricial type. Altricial larvae are those that remain in a relatively undeveloped state until the yolk sac is exhausted. At first feeding the digestive system is still rudimentary, lacking a stomach, and much of the protein digestion takes place in the hind gut epithelial cells. Such a digestive system is in most cases incapable of processing formulated diets in a manner that allows survival and growth of the larvae comparable to those of live feeds. Despite the recent progress in the development of inert diets for fish larvae, feeding of most species of interest for aquaculture still relies on live feeds during the early life stages

Successful mass production of Three spot damselfish through captive breeding

The captive breeding technology for twenty three marine ornamental species have been developed by ICAR-CMFRI, which includes Clownfishes, Damsels, Fire fish, Dotty back, Anthias etc. The breeding and larval rearing of clownfishes is comparatively easy while the same for damselfishes is difficult because of the difference in live feed requirements

సిల్వర్ పొంపనో (Trachinotus blochii) - భారత రంగానికి అనువైన లాభసాటి చేప (Silver Pompano, Trachinotus blochii – A potential fish for coastal aquaculture in India-Telugu)

Silver Pompano, Trachinotus blochii is one of the ideal species suitable for brackish water aquaculture in earthen ponds as well as for Mariculture in sea cages, mainly due to its fast growth, good meat quality and high market demand. Apart from having a good taste and with fewer spines, Silver Pompano has high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA in their meat. The Silver Pompano, also called as snub nose pompano is caught only sporadically in the commercial fishery and hence its availability is rather scarc

Farming of Cobia and Silver Pompano

Mariculture can be defined as the controlled cultivation and harvest of aquatic organisms, including finfish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Mariculture operations are conducted at both land and water facilities. Land-based mariculture systems include ponds, tanks, raceways, and water flow-through and recirculating systems. Water-based mariculture systems include net pens, cages, ocean ranching, longline culture, and bottom culture. Mariculture can provide a number of socio-economic benefits, including food provision, improved nutrition and health, generation of income and employment, diversification of primary products, and increased trade earnings through the export of high-value products

Marine Ornamental fish seed production

The ornamental fish trade is a multi- billion dollar industry and it is estimated that globally around 1.5 -2 million people keep aquaria. Over 46,000,000 organisms representing 2500 species are traded annually with a value exceeding US$ 300,000,000. Philippines and Indonesia supply the majority of livestock, with most specimens being consumed by the USA, Europe, and Japan (Calado et al., 2017). Among the most commonly traded families of fish Pomacentridae dominate accounting for 43% of all fish traded. They are followed by species belonging to Pomacanthidae (8%), Acanthuridae (8%), Labridae (6%) Gobiidae (5%), Chaetodontidae (4%), Callionymidae(3%), Microdesmidae (2%), Serranidae (2%) and Blennidae (2%)