Pen Farming in A Small River: Its Impact on Fish Production and Economic Condition of Pen Farmers
Abstract
Present study was conducted in the river Chota Bhagirathi in Malda district of West Bengal to assess the productivity of fish -pens and its impact on economic condition of the pen farmers. Fifteen pen farmers were selected for the study and their age ranged from 25 -40 yrs. Among them 53.33% were 31 -35 yrs old and 33.33% were within 36 -40 yrs. Individual pen farming area varied from 3.0 ha to > 6.0 ha in the river Chota Bhagirathi. According to the size, pens were categorized into three groups: small pen (3.0 -4.5 ha), medium pen (4.6 -6.0 ha) and big pen (> 6.0 ha). Small pen farmers contributed 40.00%, medium pens 33.33% and big pens 26.67% of the total pen farming area in the river. The lease amount of pens varied according to pen area. Maximum fish production achieved from P1 (3281 kg/ha/year), P7 (3333 kg/ha/year), P8 (3444 kg/ha/year ), P9 (3225 kg/ha/year) and P10 (3279 kg/ha/year) compared with other pens. P1 (Rs. 1,14,474 ha/year) earned highest profit and P8 (Rs. 1,06,771 ha/year) was second highest among 15 pens. Among the selected pen farmers, 73.33% were from non -fisherman commu nity and only 26.67% from original fisherman folk.
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Introduction
Fish farming in river means culture of fish in enclosures like cages or pens which is manageable and remain under control. Farming in pens is the most favorable solution in increasing fish production without further conversion of wetlands and mangroves into aquaculture ponds. Pens are high production systems, relatively simple and less expensive to construct but requires a large amount of working capital due to high cost of commercial feeds in sites where feeding is needed. The development and adoption of inland water pen culture has been much less dramatic than that of cage culture and at present pens are used for various aquaculture activities on a commercial basis in many countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China and USA (Beveridge, 1984; Chua and Teng, 1977; Lam, 1982; Shang and Tisdell, 1997). In India, experiments have been carried out to raise carp seed using pen culture in oxbow lakes, swampy tanks, beels and reservoirs (Abraham, 1980; Banerjee and Pandey, 1978; Mane, 1982; Swaminathan and Singit, 1982; Yadava et al., 1983). In Assam, fingerlings raised in pens have shown higher rate of survivability, better g rowth and increasing the fish production (Chandra, 2010).
Stocking of advanced fingerlings (>100 mm) in reservoirs for achieving higher survival and fish production is an age old practice. However, the development agencies continue to stock smaller fish se ed (15 -40 mm) because of inadequate rearing space in land -based ponds as construction of new ponds is capital intensive. In this situation, fish culture in pens becomes desirable as the pens can be erected even by unskilled labour, and the materials requir ed for the fabrication of pens is inexpensively and readily available in the local markets (Natarajan, 1976 and Selvaraj et al., 1990).
A study was undertaken in the river Chota Bhagirathi in Malda district of West Bengal to assess the productivity of fish -pens and its impact on economic condition of the pen farmer...
