CMFRI identifies sites for sea cage farming

February 10, 2023

Sea cage farming is growing fish in the sea using an enclosed net. Even if we use just 1% of inshore water in this, we can produce 3.2 million tonnes of fish. However, India is lagging in the method. To increase sea cage farming in the country, CMFRI identified 146 spots.

What is the plan?

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute recently identified 146 spots for sea cage farming. With this, India is planning to produce 2.13 million tonnes of fish per year. Of 146, four sites are from Kerala.

About the cages

Each cage to be placed in the sites can grow 3 tonnes of fish within eight months. The expected revenue from each site is 1.5 lakhs to 2.5 lakhs per cage.

Why promote sea cage farming?

The production in sea cage farming is 50 times more than conventional shore fishing. Expenditure and investment are very minimal. Monitoring the fish is easy. Also, feeding, observation, and growth are simple. No special skills are required. Harvesting is also easy. Overall labour, investment and techniques, skills and technologies required are very less.

Choosing the right site

The key to successful sea cage farming is choosing the site. Experts from CMFRI are to do this job for the fish farmers. It is difficult because certain spots should be avoided like sewage pipe discharge spots, harbours, navigation channels, mangroves, marine protected areas, industrial effluent points, etc.

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