'Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi'
Abstract
The collection of seeds from the wild is the main source to obtain the stocking
material for the cage. This can be carried out when the seed production cost is very high or
where the availability of seed from nature is in large quantity. It is important to know the
biology of the fish species either to duplicate reproductive condition on the farm or to know
when and where to collect the fish. The artificially produced seeds in the hatchery are used
widely in cage culture practice all over the world to avoid depletion of stock in the wild. The
transportation of the seeds to the culture site plays an important role as maximum mortality
occurs during this process because of change in metabolic pattern of the fish due to stress.
The appropriate quantity of seeds should be stocked in each cage for obtaining good
production. This chapter mainly deals with all these aspects in detail