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Polyculture of Commercially Important Fishes
The global population is expected reach 9.6 billion by 2050 where more than 800
million would continue to suffer from chronic malnutrition. The huge challenge of
feeding all has to be met safeguarding the natural resources for future generations
(FAO 2014). Owing to increasing human population coupled with decreasing availability of space for land-based food production systems, a realistic solution could be
sustainable utilization of water resources lying unutilized or underutilized. With
capture fishery production relatively static since the late 1980s, aquaculture has
been responsible for the impressive growth in the supply of fish for human consumption. A milestone was reached in 2014 when the aquaculture sector’s contribution to the supply of fish for human consumption overtook that of wild-caught fish
for the first time (FAO 2016). Fisheries and aquaculture is a source not just of health
but also of wealth. Employment in the sector has grown faster than the world’s
population. Fish continues to be one of the most traded food commodities worldwide. However, there is a need to look beyond the economics and ensure that environmental well-being is compatible with human well-being in order to make
long-term sustainable prosperity a reality for all (FAO 2014).
India is the second most populous country in the world with a total population of
1.21 billion and the overall annual population growth has been at the rate of about
1.41% per anum (2011 Census). The greatest challenge the country faces is to
ensure food security of the largely undernourished protein starved population in
rural as well as urban areas, especially in the context of declining land resources
available for agriculture and animal husbandry (Mukherjee and Chakraborty 2010).
Hence fisheries, mainly aquaculture sector would have to emerge as the savior to
meet increased food demand.
Indian aquaculture has demonstrated a six and half fold growth over the last two
decades. Carp in freshwater and shrimps in brackishwater form the major areas of
activity. Brackishwater farming in India is an age-old traditional system confined
mainly to the ‘bheries’ (manmade impoundments in coastal wetlands) of West
Bengal, ‘gheris’ in Odisha,'pokkali’ (salt resistant deep water paddy) fields in
Kerala, ‘khar lands’ in Karnataka and ‘khazans’ in Goa coasts. These systems have
been sustaining production of 500–750 kg ha
−1
year
−1
with shrimp contributing
20–25% with no additional input, except that of trapping the naturally bred juvenile
fish and shrimp seed during tidal influx (FAO 2014).
Indian Sundarbans located in the lower Gangetic region of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of Bay of Bengal offers a congenial environment for the growth
and culture of variety of fishes. This region presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes which is vulnerable to environmental alterations (Mitra
et al. 2013). In this coastal region, there are a large number of poor marine fishermen who primarily depend on the Hooghly- Matla estuarine complex and the adjacent sea for their livelihood. As the economic benefit is greater than traditional
fishing, there is a tendency to shift from fishing to aquaculture (Bhattacharyya et al.
2010). Fishermen along with other dwellers of Indian Sundarbans have adopted
brackishwater farming with remarkable success which has become an important
tool for livelihood development in such a vulnerable eco-region.
Polyculture of Commercially Important Fishes
Polyculture of Commercially Important Fishes
The global population is expected reach 9.6 billion by 2050 where more than 800
million would continue to suffer from chronic malnutrition. The huge challenge of
feeding all has to be met safeguarding the natural resources for future generations
(FAO 2014). Owing to increasing human population coupled with decreasing availability of space for land-based food production systems, a realistic solution could be
sustainable utilization of water resources lying unutilized or underutilized. With
capture fishery production relatively static since the late 1980s, aquaculture has
been responsible for the impressive growth in the supply of fish for human consumption. A milestone was reached in 2014 when the aquaculture sector’s contribution to the supply of fish for human consumption overtook that of wild-caught fish
for the first time (FAO 2016). Fisheries and aquaculture is a source not just of health
but also of wealth. Employment in the sector has grown faster than the world’s
population. Fish continues to be one of the most traded food commodities worldwide. However, there is a need to look beyond the economics and ensure that environmental well-being is compatible with human well-being in order to make
long-term sustainable prosperity a reality for all (FAO 2014).
India is the second most populous country in the world with a total population of
1.21 billion and the overall annual population growth has been at the rate of about
1.41% per anum (2011 Census). The greatest challenge the country faces is to
ensure food security of the largely undernourished protein starved population in
rural as well as urban areas, especially in the context of declining land resources
available for agriculture and animal husbandry (Mukherjee and Chakraborty 2010).
Hence fisheries, mainly aquaculture sector would have to emerge as the savior to
meet increased food demand.
Indian aquaculture has demonstrated a six and half fold growth over the last two
decades. Carp in freshwater and shrimps in brackishwater form the major areas of
activity. Brackishwater farming in India is an age-old traditional system confined
mainly to the ‘bheries’ (manmade impoundments in coastal wetlands) of West
Bengal, ‘gheris’ in Odisha,'pokkali’ (salt resistant deep water paddy) fields in
Kerala, ‘khar lands’ in Karnataka and ‘khazans’ in Goa coasts. These systems have
been sustaining production of 500–750 kg ha
−1
year
−1
with shrimp contributing
20–25% with no additional input, except that of trapping the naturally bred juvenile
fish and shrimp seed during tidal influx (FAO 2014).
Indian Sundarbans located in the lower Gangetic region of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of Bay of Bengal offers a congenial environment for the growth
and culture of variety of fishes. This region presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes which is vulnerable to environmental alterations (Mitra
et al. 2013). In this coastal region, there are a large number of poor marine fishermen who primarily depend on the Hooghly- Matla estuarine complex and the adjacent sea for their livelihood. As the economic benefit is greater than traditional
fishing, there is a tendency to shift from fishing to aquaculture (Bhattacharyya et al.
2010). Fishermen along with other dwellers of Indian Sundarbans have adopted
brackishwater farming with remarkable success which has become an important
tool for livelihood development in such a vulnerable eco-region.
Polyculture of Commercially Important Fishes