Sustainable seed production technology of the Brackishwater catfish, Mystus Gulio.

Abstract

The long whiskers catfish, Mystus gulio (Hamilton, 1822), belonging to the family Bagridae, is a euryhaline fish, that is commonly called as “nona tengra” in Bengali (Fig 1.) M. gulio is a commercially important estuarine catfish of Sunderban delta of Bangladesh and India. It also has a decent market value in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. It is a small indigenous fish species (SIS), having high nutritional value. The domestic market price of M. gulio ranges from Rs. 200 – 700/Kg. Its important attributes such as high nutritional value, consumer demand, high market price, hardy nature and faster growth make this species a desirable candidate species for aquaculture in Southeast Asia. Due to its euryhaline nature, this fish can be bred and farmed both in freshwater as well as brackishwater environments. In addition to being suitable for co-culture along with other brackishwater fishes in the paddy fields and bheris of the Sunderban, Mystus gulio can also be farmed at high densities in cage and Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS). Expansion of farming of this species is hindered mainly because of the unavailability of hatchery produced seeds in sufficient quantities for farming. It was in these circumstances that the Kakdwip Research Centre of ICAR - Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, West Bengal, India developed and popularized a cost effective, farmer-friendly seed production and farming technology of M. gulio.