“The table top aquarium can be maintained in any place and the package costs ₹7,000 to ₹10,000 ”
In an effort to improve the livelihood of marginalised communities, a new initiative of setting up nano aquarium was launched recently in the State.
The project has been made possible with the technical support of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research’s National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources. ICAR-NBFGR has been training the community in Agatti island in Lakshadweep on breeding marine ornamental fish.
The concept of table top aquaria was mooted with the aim of not only encouraging native community of Lakshadweep to build such aquaria for trade and earn income but also conserve the nation’s biodiversity. The bureau’s research had resulted in new species being identified and they have been since bred in captivity.
The nano aquaria comes as a package that includes synthetic salt, bacteria and feed along with 10 ornamental shrimps raised in captivity. The table top aquarium can be maintained in any place and the combination package costs ₹7,000 to ₹10,000 based on a person’s interest.
The bureau has entered into an agreement with VGP Marine Kingdom to trade and export shrimps. State Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Minister Anitha R. Radhakrishnan participated in the launch. The nano aquarium will be sold at the Marine Kingdom’s souvenir shop.
Officials of the NBFGR said the model had the potential to create an ornamental marine organisms culture hub in the State and benefit native communities to build a case history of access-benefit sharing. The effort would help to build capacity, improve income of the communities and bring about gender main-streaming, the officials said.
