In an effort to replenish natural fish stock in the sea off the coast of Tamil Nadu, the Fisheries Department has planned to ranch seeds of black tiger shrimps, Indian prawn and cobia at a cost of ₹10.5 crore.
“Sea ranching or ocean ranching is an internationally accepted concept, where fish that are commercially important and need replenishment are reared in a controlled laboratory environment and let into the sea when they are of a certain size. The expectation is that they would develop so that local fishers can catch them. The Fisheries Minister has announced the proposal during the last Assembly session, ” said a source in the department.
This is being done as part of the phase II of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan. “We will ranch 80 million seeds of Penaeus monodon (black tiger shrimp), 20 million seeds of Fenneropenaeus indicus (Indian Prawn) and 1 lakh seeds of Rachycentron canadum (Cobia) for a total of ₹10.5 crore at Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi districts,” the official explained.
To increase the fish resources that depleted after the oil spill in Pulicat, seeds of Fenneropenaeus indicus (Indian prawn) and Lates calcarifer (sea bass) would be ranched for an amount of ₹60 lakh in collaboration with Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture and Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture.
Nanjil Ravi of the Akila Indhiya Meenavar Sangam, who welcomed the proposal, said sea ranching should be done in all coastal districts of the State. “That way, more fishers would benefit. At present, many times fishers return home empty handed.We must remember that fishers from other States and districts too fish in our waters,” he said.
In 2004-05, the government ranched 48 million seeds of Penaeus monodon (Black tiger shrimp) at twelve places in six coastal districts of Chennai, Ramanathapuram, Pudukottai, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Thoothukudi under the Fisheries Development Mission programme.
