Acanthopagrus berda - a potential species for mariculture in India

Abstract

Sea breams belonging to the sparidae familyare excellent food fishes and important candidate species for aquaculture. Globally, the river bream, Acanthopagrus berda is highly valued in commercial fisheries and aquaculture due to their excellent meat quality, market demand, easy adaptability to captivity and ability to tolerate wide variations in both salinity and temperature. A. berda is distributed in the estuarine and shallow coastal waters of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts (Fig.1). Locally known as “Karuthaeri” along Kerala coast they are fished by artisanal fishers using cast nets and hook & line and fetch ` 400-500 per kg in the domestic markets. At present, India is looking for native food fishes for mariculture development and A. berda is considered as a priority species due to their high market demand.