The Hindu : Front Page : Finfish hatchery to be established

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 02, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Finfish hatchery to be established

R. Vimal Kumar

It will enable a shift from `culture fishery'

Tuticorin: The Department of Fisheries plans to establish a finfish hatchery in the State at an outlay of Rs. three crore during the next fiscal, to produce good quality finfish seeds in large quantities.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Wednesday, Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, Director of Fisheries, said it would be established either at Tharuvaikulam in Tuticorin district or at Neelankarai near Chennai, and it would enable a shift from `capture fishery' to `culture fishery,' thereby reducing the pressure exerted on sea resources.

The department planned to sea ranch 53 million shrimp seeds before June 30 at a cost of Rs. 1.28 crore, to enhance shrimp population along Tamil Nadu coast. Under the project, the department would purchase shrimp seeds from private hatcheries at a post-larvae stage and rear it in floating cages kept in inshore waters for 30 days before being sea-ranched.

The shrimp seeds will be sea-ranched from 12 coastal hamlets in the State, of which Tharuvaikulam and Keezhavaippar are in Tuticorin district.

"This method will augment shrimp production and help the State earn more foreign exchange," he said.

Artificial reefs

Mr. Yadav said as part of efforts to provide spawning grounds for fish, artificial reefs made of concrete blocks would be established in the sea at a depth of 10 metres at 10 places along the coast before May 31 at a cost of Rs. 1.6 crore.

"These reefs will be of immense help to fishermen too since the presence of a large number of fish population will make harvest easy," he said.

On other new projects, he said plans were afoot to establish a fish landing centre-cum-jetty at Tharuvaikulam at an outlay of Rs. 1.5 crore.

Further, the department planned to introduce a community-based fishery management programme before the end of this fiscal itself, to educate fishermen on methods to exploit marine resources optimally.

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