Ramanathapuram
Continuing the sea-ranching programme to replenish and enhance the shrimp stock and support the livelihood of the local fishing community, the Mandapam regional centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has released seeds of green shrimp species, locally known as ‘thaalai iral’ in the Palk Bay.
As ‘overfishing’ of brooders (parent shrimps) and juveniles had resulted in a drastic depletion of shrimp resources in the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar regions, CMFRI launched the sea-ranching programme and had been releasing shrimp seeds in the last five years.
On Friday, a team of scientists, led by R. Jayakumar, senior scientist, CMFRI Mandapam regional centre, released 8 lakh lakh seeds of ‘green tiger shrimp’ in the Palk Bay at Thonithurai near Mandapam.
A.K. Abdul Nazar, Principal Scientist, Madras Research Centre of ICAR-CMFRI, J.L. Ajith Stalin, Assistant Director of Fisheries, Mandapam, and fishermen leaders were among others, present at the event. The programme was coordinated by CMFRI scientists M. Sankar and B.Johnson.
The shrimp seeds were released in the seagrass bed regions with the help of local fishermen, officials said. The seeds would be ready for harvest in about five to six months and the sea ranching was synchronised with the fishing ban period, which would come into force in April.
Mr. Jayakumar said that during 2017-18 CMFRI had released total of 1.7 million shrimp seeds in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay regions and this year 2018-19 the scientists released 3.3 million seeds, exceeding the target fixed for the year.
