CHENNAI: In a major breakthrough, the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) has successfully captive bred Grey Mullet (Madavai), a high-valued commercial brackishwater fish, for the first time in the country in sync with Government of India's blue revolution mission. This had remained elusive for more than three decades.
Due to their texture and taste, grey mullets are the preferred choice of consumers and fetches good market price in the range of Rs 350 to Rs 500 per kg. "Fast growth rates and omnivorous feeding habit, acceptance of formulated pellet feed makes it an ideal fish candidate for brackishwater aqua farmers with potential output of 4 tonnes per hectare/crop," CIBA director KK Vijayan told The New Indian Express.
For the past several decades, India has made multiple 'failed' attempts to develop captive breeding technology for grey mullet. One of the primary reasons is grey mullets have a short annual reproductive period limited to just a few weeks during monsoon and reproductive dysfunctions in captivity.
"One-time breeding character of the fish further contributed to failure in efforts to captive breed. But, grey mullets are high-value brackishwater finfish species exhibiting fast growth rates. The species is an ideal candidate for Polyculture and Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture systems. Also, grey mullet is the most widespread species of the family Mugilidae which comprises 20 genera and 70 species. Considering its significance in brackishwater aquaculture, CIBA has given greater impetus in the breeding of grey mullet since 2015, giving special focus on developing a captive broodstock and breeding. As a result of these efforts, successful breeding and larval production were achieved using pond reared broodstock in 2016-17. This season by December-January, CIBA has completed producing its third batch of hatchery-reared grey mullet fingerlings," Vijayan said.
Further, CIBA also formulated indigenous pellet feeds for the broodstock, larvae, nursery and grow-out feeds. So, an entire indigenous hatchery technology for grey mullets is ready for large-scale aquafarming.
On Thursday afternoon, grey mullet seeds will be handed over to potential enterprising farmers, from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The seeds will be raised in their respective farms and developed into F1 broodstock, which would be brought back to CIBA hatchery for further breeding and seed production.
"These initiatives towards species domestication may make a wider breeding window of grey mullet available and the process of induced maturation less challenging," scientists said.
Presently, CIBA has already standardised seed production of various brackishwater food fish species like Asian seabass, milkfish, pearlspot, whiskered catfish and also ornamental species such as spotted scat, moon fish, orange chromide.