India’s Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) has bred the milkfish (Chanos chanos), locally known as Paal Kendai’ or Paal Meen’, successfully in captivity for the first time in the country.
CIBA said this is good news for small and marginal farmers who can grow the fish at a low cost. Milkfish fetches Rs. 120-150/kg in the local market while the production cost is only Rs. 50-60/kg.
The breeding was conducted in the fish hatchery of the Experimental Research Station of CIBA located at Muttukadu near Chennai.
The male and female adult milkfish were reared in cement tanks for more than ten years. They were bred by administering calculated doses of permitted hormone. The fertilised eggs obtained were hatched and reared to fingerling stage, which are more suitable for nursery rearing and farming.
While the milkfish attains natural maturity fairly easily in the wild, breeding and spawning in the open ocean, maintaining the brood stock and getting them to mature and breed in captivity have always been technically challenging tasks.
But they could be an important species to farm because they have the ability to grow in brackishwater, seawater and freshwater ponds and lakes and can grow up to 500g in size in just six months. So they have a low production cost and are an ideal alternate species for shrimp farmers.
Because the milkfish is a low cost fish, it is an important food source for the domestic market. It can also be used as a live bait for the tuna fishing industry.
Mercator Media Ltd 2015