Name of the Institute: ICAR- Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research, Bhimtal
A. Name of technology: Artificial propagation, seed production and flow-through hatchery for Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora)
Problem statement: Golden mahseer is the most prized sport fish distributed in all the Himalayan waters. Presently, this species has been recognized as endangered one and decline in its catches is reported in almost all natural resources due to illegal methods of fishing, habitat deterioration and introduction of exotic species. To rehabilitate this species, artificial propagation is of prime requisite.
Description of technology: A specific hatchery suitable for incubation and hatching of eggs through control of water flow and volume has been designed and developed. The developed hatchery structure comprised of a set of troughs under containing trays of specific size and mesh, nursery tanks and rearing tanks with continuous water flow. Over head tank of the capacity of 1000L is installed at the height of 5 m for continuous supply of water to the hatchery. Rectangular trough of the size of 220cm x 50cm x 40cm is used to hold the trays having fertilized eggs. Trays of the size of 50cm x 30cm x 10cm are used to incubate 5000-6000 eggs/tray. Galvanised iron sheet or fiber glass tank of the size of 200x60x30cm are used for rearing of fry. 1 LPM water flow is required for incubation of 2000 eggs at 20-28oC water temperature. 3-4 LPM water flow is required for rearing of 2000 fry at 20-28oC water temperature. Structure is suitable for the production of spawn and fingerlings in coldwater conditions. Healthy and quality seed of the Mahseer fish can be produced in controlled condition.
Applicability/Situation: A flow through Mahseer hatchery has been designed for the mass seed production of this fish species. The system is simple and farmers friendly for breeding, egg incubation and larval rearing with continuous water flow. Artificial mass seed production of this species would be helpful for the rehabilitation of this species through ranching in the uplands water bodies and also for enhancement of aquaculture production.
Economics/ Cost involved: Estimated cost of the hatchery for 1 lakh eggs capacity- Rs. 15 lakh
Fig. Flow-through Mahseer hatchery and seed production at DCFR, Bhimtal
B. Name of technology: Seed production and hatchery management of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Problem statement: Rainbow trout is a low volume and high priced fish and a main candidate species for aquaculture in high altitudinal region. Seed availability is the main bottleneck in the trout production. In order to achieve the goal of enhancing rainbow trout production, it is quite necessary to focus on seed production technology of this fish. The transportation of seed is only possible at eyed ova stage, therefore, a feasible technology is required for the production of live trout seed at fry or fingerling stage.
Description of technology: A specific hatchery for rainbow trout with continuous flowing water system has been designed for incubation and hatching of eggs. This flow through hatchery comprised of an indoor structure having troughs, trays, nursery tanks and rearing tanks. Over head tank of the capacity of 1000L is installed at the height of 5 m for continuous supply of water to the hatchery. Rectangular trough of the size of 220cm x 50cm x 40cm is used to hold the trays having fertilized eggs. Trays of the size of 50cm x 30cm x 10cm are used to incubate 2000-3000 eggs/tray. FRP tank of the size of 200x60x30cm are used for rearing of 5000 fry. Outdoor rearing tank of the size of 5.0X1.5X0.75cm is used for raising 5000 advance fry. Structure is suitable for the production of fry and fingerlings in coldwater conditions. Healthy and quality seed of the rainbow trout fish can be produced in controlled condition.
Applicability/Situation: This technology is helpful for enhancement of the rainbow trout production in hills.
Economics/ Cost involved: Estimated cost of the hatchery for 1 lakh eyed ova capacity- 20 lakh
Fig. Breeding of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
C. Name of technology: Culture technique of rainbow trout in flow through raceway.
Problem statement: Being a low volume high value commodity, the trout has good potential for domestic consumptions as well as foreign export. Therefore, it is very much required to develop the suitable technology for culture of rainbow trout.
Description of technology: Cool, clean and well oxygenated flowing water is the prime need for the successful culture of rainbow trout. Rainbow culture in raceway having the size of 30 m2 or 45 m2 and depth of 1m. is used for the production of table sized fish. This system is feed based culture in continuous flowing water. Healthy seed is stocked at the rate of 40-100 fingerlings /m3, where 300 LPM water flow is required for 1 tonn production. Under suitable water temperature and sufficient supply of good quality of feed, trout attains 300-350 grams size after 10 months with stocking of advanced fingerlings. Technology is farm based and eco-friendly to achieve production of 500-700kg/raceway.
Applicability/Situation: This practice provides excellent opportunity for utilizing the abundant resources and supports livelihood and nutritional security to the hill community.
Economics/ Cost involved: Operational cost- Rs. 2, 28000/- per 30 m3, Expected income- Rs. 3, 50000/- per 30 m3, Net income-Rs. 1, 22000/- per 30 m3
Fig. Raceway culture of rainbow trout at Uttarey, W. Sikkim
D. Name of technology: Artificial propagation and seed production of Snow trout, Schizothorax richardsonii (Gray)
Problem statement: This is an important indigenous cold water fish species, endemic to the Himalayas and found in streams and lakes which receive snow melt water from the hills. Artificial propagation and seed production in captivity is required for species diversification in cold water aquaculture Description of technology: Technology for artificial fecundation of snow trout and rearing of young ones in controlled condition has been developed at DCFR. Spawning can be done by dry stripping method and egg are incubated in the flow through hatchery. This is a farm based eco friendly and location specific technique. Maturity of the brooder depends on the favorable temperature range i.e 14-18°C. Fertilized eggs remain bright orange in colour at the time of stripping. The average fecundity is 10560-22120 eggs/kg. Incubation period depends on the water temperature in the range of 110-270 hours. Good recovery of the fry can be achieved by proper nutritional care of brooder prior to the breeding season.
Applicability/Situation: Previously seed was procured from the natural resources. This technique enables the production of pure and healthy seed in captive condition. This seed can be used for augmentation of natural stock and aquaculture of this species.
Economics/ Cost involved: Cost of carp Hatchery- 14 lakh
Operational cost- Rs. 5000-6000 for 1 lakh fry.
Fig. Breeding operation of Snow trout, Schizothorax richardsonii at DCFR, Champawat
E. Name of technology: Polyculture of Exotic carp in mid hill region for aquaculture development.
Problem statement: In the upland waters the Indian major carps do not grow well, due to the low thermal regime. Therefore, Chinese carps were taken as the candidate species for polyculture. Description of technology: Polyculture of grass carp, silver carp and common carp in earthen ponds of the mid altitudinal region has been standardized for the mid hill region (800-2000 msl). In general, ponds of the size of 100-150m2 are suitable for this practice. Raw cow dung (RCD) @ 9000 kg/ha/yr is applied to ensure consistent growth of plankton. Fingerlings of exotic carp are stocked at the rate of 2.8-4 fish/m3 with species ratio of 4-5:2-2.5:3-3.5 for grass carp, silver carp and common carp, respectively. Supplementary feed, prepared from locally available ingredients such as oil cake, rice polish/bran is given @ 2-3% of the body weight. Vegetable waste/terrestrial grass is used for grass carp feeding. Average annual fish production is almost double than the monoculture of carp. Technology is eco- friendly based on locally available inputs. Comparatively higher fish production @ 0.34-0.68 kg/m3 /yr (3400 to 6800 kg/ha/yr) is harvested from the earthen ponds.
Applicability/Situation: The farmers in the hill region have integrated type of farming pattern. Fish can serve as an additional source of income if integrated with the hill agriculture.
Fig. Carp production in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand
F. Name of technology: Multi-tier model for integrated fish farming using polytanks in mid hill region.
Problem statement: Plastics film lined ponds have been found very suitable for rainwater harvesting in uplands where scarcity of water becomes major bottleneck in agricultural production or diversification from poorly remunerative production to scientifically recommended production considering local climatic and soil advantages. In Himalayan hilly tracts, such ponds are being used for rainwater harvesting or storing the water from low discharge springs which otherwise cannot be directly used for irrigation purposes. Description of technology: This multi-tier model for fish culture was developed for which the poly-cum-irrigation tanks were used for fish culture. The ponds were stocked with Chinese carps and were fed with rice polish and mustard oil cake @ 2% of body weight. Pond water temperature in polytanks remain 2-6 °C higher than the conventional ponds since polyfilm conserve the energy of sun light as well act as insulation between water and earth. The temperature helps in regulating the fish physiology resulting in more growth of fish compare to conventional tanks. The average production of 0.7 kg/ m3 is achieved, which is almost double than the conventional ponds. It provides the buffer stock of water for the lean period and is also used for horticulture practice. Polytanks have a better life span of 7-8 years. Applicability/Situation: In hills, the Agriculture is mainstay of the inhabitants but the average landholding is 700- 900 m2 compared to national average 1370 m2. The soil productivity is less due to marked water shortageduring the summer in the streams of hills, soil is gravelly and porous that has low water holding capacity which limits the production cycle and farm activities. In this context, this model has scope to intensify carp culture in the mid hills for increasing the productivity of the land that can help in ensuring nutritional and livelihood security in the hills which ultimately, would decrease the pressure on the metropolitan cities since this would check the migration from hills to plains.
G. Name of technology: Artificial propagation of Chocolate Mahseer (Neolissochilus hexagonolepis)
Problem statement: Presently, there are very limited candidate species for the hill aquaculture. Species diversification in hill region in addition to existing cultivable species is the priority for coldwater aquaculture. Indigenous minor carps; Semiplotus semiplotus, Osteobrama balengeriand Neolissochilus hexagonolepis etc. are widely distributed in streams and rivers of NE hill states. Information on seed production technique and culture practice of these species in coldwater climate is not available. Introduction of new cultivable species would be helpful for further enhancement of the coldwater aquaculture production. Description of technology:Culture and breeding protocol of Chocolate Mahseer was developed at DCFR. This species thrives well in captive environment and can be grown well with carps in pond culture. Breeding season is August-September with fecundity of 6000-8000 eggs/kg body weight, fertilisation 95%, hatching rate 80%, incubation period 38-40 hrs and light yellow egg colour. Technology is farm based and eco-friendly.
Applicability/Situation: This species would be a new candidate species for the coldwater aquaculture practice.
H. Name of technology: Artificial propagation of minor carp, Labeo dyocheilus (McClelland) and Labeo dero
Problem statement: Presently, there are very limited candidate species for the hill aquaculture. Species diversification in hill region in addition to existing cultivable species is the priority for coldwater aquaculture. Indigenous minor carps; Labeo dyocheilus, Labeo dero etc. are widely distributed in streams and rivers of hill states. Information on seed production technique of Indigenous minor carps in coldwater climate is not available. Introduction of new cultivable species would be helpful for further enhancement of the coldwater aquaculture production. Technology is farm based and eco-friendly. Description of technology: Induced breeding technology has been standardised for these species in captivity under coldwater condition. Different doses of inducing agent (GnRH and domperidon) were injected through intra muscular route. Optimum dose of inducing hormone were found 0.6 ml kg-1 and 0.7 ml kg-1 body weight to female and 0.2 ml kg-1 and 0.3 ml kg-1 body weight to male fish for L. dyocheilus and L. dero, respectively. Average spawning fecundity of L. dyocheilus is 336705 eggs kg-1 body weight while for L. dero it is 217243 eggs kg-1 body weight. Suitable incubation temperature range is 18-22°C for both the species with 93-94% fertilization rate, 20-46 hours incubation period, 94 to 96% hatching rate for L. dyocheilus and 90-94% fertilization rate and 74-80% hatching rate for L. dero. These findings strongly advocate that these species are potential for aquaculture through large scale seed production for wild stock augmentation and aquaculture practice. Fish has been used under polyculture system with grass carp and common carp in mid hill region giving encouraging results. Stunted fingerling has been found a better option of stocking in ponds where the fish attained the size of 300-350g in 8 months. Applicability/Situation: This technique would be helpful for the mass seed production of these species for natural stock augmentation and aquaculture of this species in polyculture system with other exotic carps. This species would be a new candidate species for the coldwater aquaculture practice.
Economics/ Cost involved: Cost of production- Rs. 10000/lakh fingerlings.
Fig. Induced breeding of Labeo dyocheilus at DCFR Bhimtal
