Major breakthrough in orange fish seed production

It holds potential to emerge as an alternative to Vannamei

A view of orange spotted grouper fish at the hatchery of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Visakhapatnam.— Photo: K.R. Deepak

The orange spotted grouper fish ( Epinephelus coiodes ) has the potential to emerge as an alternative to Vannamei, an exotic whiteleg shrimp, as a major breakthrough has been made by scientists at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here in mass production of the seed of the fish.

The orange spotted grouper fish has high demand in India and the export markets of Middle East and South East Asia. It grows from one kg to 10 kg. It is now sold at Rs.500 per kg in India and Rs.1,500 in overseas market. The fish lives in rocky areas due to which its number has been fast dwindling. It is available in plenty in the area where Pakistan submarine PNS Ghazi sank off Visakhapatnam Coast during 1971 Indo-Pak. war. The fish is in demand for its yummy taste and fatty and amino acids. The orange spotted grouper is a commercially important carnivorous fish. As of now, Vannamei is exported in large quantity to the United States and other regions.

The CMFRI’s Visakhapatnam Regional Centre, after prolonged research and trials at its hatchery, was able to achieve high survival rate. The scientists started the process for changing female fish to male in 2012 by injecting enzymes and hormones and small-scale production of fingerlings with less survival rate in 2013.

The breakthrough, which they achieved recently, got delayed due to the damage caused to the hatchery and other infrastructure by the Hudhud Cyclone in 2014.

High survival rate

of larvae

“We have achieved 10 per cent survival of larvae by converting eggs to fingerlings whereas the global standard is five to six per cent,” Subhadeep Ghosh, Senior Scientist in-charge of the CMFRI centre, told The Hindu on Tuesday.

Dr. Ghosh and fellow scientists Ritesh Ranjan and Sekhar Megharajan have won appreciation from CMFRI Director Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan for playing a key role in achieving the breakthrough. Dr. Ghosh said the orange fish could be cultured both in ponds and cages as they survive in wild salinity and wild temperature. “It is considered a robust fish as it has less chances to get diseases unlike Vannamei, which is cultured by aquaculture farmers across teh Andhra Pradesh coast,” he said.