The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) is looking to deploy the biofloc method to farm Vannamei shrimp even as COVID-19 restrictions and job losses are turning more and more people to self-employment in agriculture and allied activities.
Vice Chancellor K. Riji John said the biofloc technology had now been standardised so that those with limited land area could take up fish culture using the technology. It has found acceptance among aquaculturists with the Department of Fisheries offering support for the programme.
The fish that is now being widely cultivated using the technology is the genetically-modified farmed tilapia (GIFT). Such ventures can be turned into economically-remunerative ones for farmers by switching the candidate species to Vannamei shrimp, he said.
The biofloc model is an intensive aquaculture system and is considered to hold an advantage over conventional systems, as the normally harmful waste produced in conventional aquaculture can be turned into feed for fish.
Experimental Vannamei farming had begun in the State around six years ago under an initiative by Kufos. The exotic whiteleg shrimps are native to the Eastern Pacific Ocean and have been found to be suited to the brackish water conditions in Kerala.
Extensive culture of Vannamei has been undertaken in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu, among other coastal States.
The ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture in Chennai had even launched a mobile application, Vanami shrimpapp, for disseminating information on shrimp farming.
The export of Vannamei accounts for a substantial chunk of earnings from seafood exports from India with the USA and South East Asian and European Union countries accounting for most business.
