A pilot study on culture of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch) in open sea cage at Munambam, Cochin coast, India.

India ranks third in global fish production with 6.4 million metric t, but mariculture in the Indian seas is yet to be popularised. The limited availability of protected sites and the probable conflicts with other activities such as fishing, tourism and navigation are factors likely to influence mariculture development in India, besides finance, technology, expertise and government policy. A pilot scale inshore marine cage culture experiment has been undertaken since 2007 at Visakhapatnam coast of India in the Bay of Bengal. A similar cage was launched at Munambam for the culture of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer. Asian seabass seed (3.5 ±1.5 g) reared in hapa installed in ponds for a period of 30 days were stocked in the cage and cultured for a period of 120 days and harvested at an average weight of 315.5 g. Analysis of nutrient levels in seawater near the cage, revealed no noticeable accumulation of solid particulate wastes indicating that water current (0.5 to 1.0 m sec -1 ) was adequate in the site to prevent accumulation of wastes in the cage as well as in the premises. The cage culture activity was found to influence the planktonic and benthic fauna.

[1]  C. Carter,et al.  High growth efficiency occurs over a wide temperature range for juvenile barramundi Lates calcarifer fed a balanced diet , 2007 .

[2]  Mark W. Rosegrant,et al.  Book Review: Fish to 2020: Supply and Demand in Changing Global Markets , 2003 .

[3]  R. Wu.  The environmental impact of marine fish culture: Towards a sustainable future , 1995 .

[4]  E. D’Agaro,et al.  The effect of dietary protein level and source on growth, body composition, total ammonia and reactive phosphate excretion of growing sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) , 1994 .

[5]  M. G. Poxton,et al.  Nitrogen pollution in mariculture: toxicity and excretion of nitrogenous compounds by marine fish , 1993, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.

[6]  T. Pillay,et al.  Aquaculture: Principles and Practices , 1990 .

[7]  K. Gundersen.  The distribution and biological transformations of nitrogen in the Baltic Sea , 1981 .

[8]  Linda T. Lombardo.  A in Black , 1973 .

[9]  Michael Heidelberger,et al.  THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION. , 1889, Science.

[10]  C. Nash,et al.  The net-pen salmon farming industry in the Pacific Northwest , 2001 .

[11]  L. Lothian,et al.  Aquafeeds and the environment , 1997 .

[12]  U. Barg,et al.  Guidelines for the Promotion of Environmental Management of Coastal Aquaculture Development , 1992 .

[13]  M. Takeda,et al.  The current status of fish nutrition in aquaculture : the proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Feeding and Nutrition in Fish, August 28 - September 1, 1989, Toba, Japan , 1990 .

[14]  F. B. Davy.  Aquaculture in Japan , 1989 .

[15]  E. Arnold,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. 16th ed. , 1985 .

[16]  国際食糧農業協会,et al.  Aquaculture in Japan , 1980 .

[17]  C. I. Rich.  Soil Chemical Analysis , 1958 .