MPEDA conducts open pond culture of seabass for the first time in the country

KOCHI: The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has successfully conducted open pond culture of Asian seabass for the first time.

It was done at the demonstration farm of Rajiv Gandhi Centre of Aquaculture (RGCA), the research & development arm of the MPEDA, at Karaikal in Puducherry. Seabass, which is reared through ‘cage culture’, fetches a price of more than Rs 400 a kg in the domestic market and also has huge export demand. Under the open pond culture method, its yield can go up to 9 tonnes per hectare.

MPEDA chairman A. Jayathilak, who witnessed the first catch of huge sizes of seabass fish (average weight of 1.5 to 2.00 kg) and 1.10 tonnes being caught in a single haul from the farm, said it would be the best alternative species for shrimp which contributes more than 70 per cent of seafood exports.


“Diversified aquaculture is the key for sustainability. This kind of diversified fish has the potential to significantly add to the seafood export basket. The production of up to 9 tonnes per hectare is really encouraging. In the future the production will be scaled up by keeping in mind the sustainability and eco-friendly culture practices,” he said, adding: “The technology for commercial production of these species would be made available to farmers very soon by RGCA.”

Jayathilak, who is also president of RGCA, said the cage culture in ponds is a suitable method for growing seabass, but investment costs are high and cannot be afforded by small and marginal farmers. “But the open pond culture method can help these small farmers without much investmen,” he pointed out.

RGCA is concentrating its research on seed production, nursery rearing and grow-out methods of various species like cobia, artemia, scampi, tilapia, pompano, grouper and red snapper fishes for both brackish and marine waters.