The Fisheries Department’s experiment on promoting hatchery reared prawn varieties in major reservoirs across the State has yielded successful results.
The project was launched in November on a pilot basis in 11 reservoirs across the State and the department had released 1.08 crore prawn seed into the reservoirs with an estimated ₹1.39 crore spent for the purchase of seed at ₹1.28 a piece. With the commencement of harvesting season, the department has so far reported yield of more than 184 tonne with an estimated market value of ₹4.43 crore.
“The harvest in the Lower Manair Dam alone is estimated to be above ₹2 crore, when compared with the ₹30 lakh spent on the procurement of prawn seed for the reservoir,” Fisheries Commissioner C. Suvarna told The Hindu. The yield is expected to be higher as harvesting has not yet commenced in four of the 11 reservoirs while it was partially completed in the four other reservoirs.
The project involved obtaining brood stock from Kerala which was reared in a hatchery in Prakasam district and then transported to rearing ponds in Krishna district. Given the experimental nature of the project, the department had ensured that fresh water juveniles were released into the 11 major reservoirs rather than post larval stage seed for ensuring survival of the seed. “This is the first time hatchery reared juveniles have been released into the reservoirs and the experiment has given successful results,” she said.
Enthused with the successful results of the pilot, the department had now decided to scale up the experiment and it has accordingly been decided to try the experiment by releasing 4.3 crore juveniles in 23 reservoirs across the State. “The pilot project has also taught us where we should not stock the juveniles.
The project will be scaled up after assessing the results of the second phase,” she said.
In view of the difficulties it had faced in obtaining the required number of juveniles, the department initiated measures in advance to ensure that required quantity of seed is available before the season begins.