The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying recently organized a webinar titled “Cage Aquaculture in Reservoir: Sleeping Giants” to promote and discuss the concept as part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebration. The Department of Fisheries, Government of India, has set investment targets for promoting cage aquaculture through flagship schemes like Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
Understanding Cage Aquaculture
Cage aquaculture refers to the growing of fish within existing water resources in a net cage, ensuring free flow of water. This aquaculture production system employs floating frames, net materials and mooring systems (with rope, buoy, anchor etc.) to hold and culture large quantities of fish. These cage farms are set up to take advantage of natural currents, providing the fish with oxygen and other necessary natural conditions.
Driving Factors & Significance
There are several factors motivating the shift towards cage aquaculture. The increasing consumption of fish, decreasing stocks of wild fish, and challenging farm economies have all heightened interest in this method. It offers an alternative to traditional agricultural crops and high production potential makes it ideal for boosting overall fish output in India.
Benefits of Cage Aquaculture
By utilizing existing water bodies, cage culture eliminates the need for a constant flow of clean, oxygenated water – a significant challenge in land-based fish farming. Furthermore, this method is both low-impact and high-yield, boasting reduced carbon emissions. India’s vast coastline and underused water resources can be more efficiently utilized with cage culture, providing new opportunities even on a small scale. Since it requires little investment or land, it’s an ideal alternate income source for small-scale fishers.
Challenges in Cage Aquaculture
While promising, several challenges exist in cage culture. These range from maintaining fresh, nutritionally complete feed for caged fish, low Dissolved Oxygen Syndrome (LODOS) management, net cage fouling, to dealing with vandalism, navigation issues, and water pollution due to unused feed and excreta. Other issues include changes in water quality parameters, conflicts within local communities, predation by aquatic mammals and birds, escapement, and overcrowding of aquatic organisms in cages.
Supportive Initiatives
Several initiatives have come up to support fisheries, including Matsya Setu, Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF), Blue Revolution, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), and Kisan Credit Card (KCC).
The Way Forward
Given the potential benefits and challenges, there is a clear need for a sturdy cage culture system within reservoirs, along with potential markets for ensuring good returns for farmers. Scientists and the Fisheries Departments of the States/UTs are encouraged to motivate fish farmers, develop innovative methods, and policies for increasing profits, decreasing input cost, species diversification, and boosting the production of cage culture systems in reservoirs. The promotion of cage aquaculture in reservoirs using good management practises and providing support services is crucial for its successful implementation.
