INDIAN AQUACULTURE CENTRE OPENS

Indian Aquaculture Centre Opens – Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu will officially open a new  Multi-species Aquaculture Complex at Vallarpadam Island near Kochi in South West India.

Set up by the Marine Products Export Development Authority, the 9 acre site will cater to the demand from aquaculture farmers in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, with facilities for hatcheries and nurseries for marine, brackish water and freshwater fish.

The complex features a hatchery for black tiger shrimp (with an annual production capacity of 20 million shrimp seeds) and nurseries for four varieties of fin fishes — sea bass, GIFT (genetically-improved farmed tilapia), silver pompano, and cobia (capacity to produce 16.5 lakh fingerlings per year) and a nursery with a capacity of 0.5 lakh crablets of mud crab.

The hatchery for Black Tiger shrimp has a quarantine facility and an effluent treatment system making it a biosecure hatchery. The nurseries, designed for diversified fish/shellfish species are lined with high density polythene and other features necessary to meet bio-security protocols.

Its location close to the international airport is an added advantage for transportation of seeds. The Vallarpadom facility can become a model for the establishment of similar facilities in other places along the west coast, especially in Konkan and parts of Maharashtra, according to an article in The New Indian Express.