Introduction to Fisheries and Aquaculture
What this domain tests
This domain tests whether you can place West Bengal and India in the fisheries sector and use precise terms. India is among the world's largest fish producers, with inland aquaculture contributing the larger share; West Bengal is a leading inland-fish state, and the Sundarbans adds brackishwater shrimp and prawn culture.
Capture versus culture
Capture fisheries harvest naturally recruited stocks from rivers, estuaries, reservoirs and the sea. Culture fisheries (aquaculture) manage stocking, feeding and water quality in enclosed or semi-enclosed systems. Brackishwater aquaculture in West Bengal is dominated by bagda (Penaeus monodon) and golda (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), while freshwater ponds use Indian major carps and exotic carps.
Terms to use exactly
- Seed: spawn to fry to fingerling; do not use them interchangeably.
- Standing crop: fish biomass present at a point in time; production is what is harvested over a period.
- Stocking density: number per unit area; biomass density: weight per unit area.
- FCR: feed fed divided by live-weight gain.
Worked example
A 0.2 ha pond is stocked with 1,200 fingerlings and harvests 240 kg after 8 months. Stocking density = 1,200/0.2 = 6,000 ha-1. If 480 kg feed was used and initial biomass was 20 kg, gain = 220 kg, FCR = 480/220 = 2.18. The reasoning separates density from biomass and uses gain, not harvest weight.
Traps
Do not call a reservoir harvest aquaculture; do not quote India's total production as aquaculture production; do not treat prawn as a fish in taxonomy questions; and do not confuse seed stages.