Design of low-cost indigenous recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for broodstock maturation of marine fishes

Abstract

Maturation of most coastal fishes may well be achieved if the animals are maintained in good quality seawater, provided they are well fed and reared without the stress of overcrowding and disturbances. RAS provides perfect opportunity to manipulate environmental conditions that are critical in maturation processes such as temperature, photoperiod, nutrition and other water quality parameters in addition to facilitating observation of the behaviour of fishes and do various husbandry steps. There is a need for the development of cost-effective, economically viable systems that minimize the environmental impact while at the same time ensuring optimal rearing conditions. Present article describes design and operation of low-cost RAS systems developed by ICAR-CMFRI for broodstock development of marine fishes, which include 30000 to 2000 l FRP systems with mechanical, biological filtration sub systems including disinfection, temperature control and photoperiod manipulation, using equipment such as, proteins skimmer, UV filters, chillers, biological filter cabinets and LED lighting with timer control