Fish seed production and marketing in some selected areas of Bangladesh

The main objective of the study was to assess the production and marketing system of fish seed and examining the demand for and supply of fry and fingerlings in some selected areas viz. Mymensingh, Netrokona and Tangail in Bangladesh. The present study selected the related stakeholders like 20 Fish Seed Multiplication Farms (FSMF) owners, 80 nursery operators, 20 fry traders and 90 fish farmers who are the beneficiaries and directly involved with the fish seed production and supply chain, and marketing system of fish seed. In case of nursing and rearing fingerlings, only those stakeholders (nurserers and fish farmers) attached with NGOs were selected and the NGOs were GRAMUS, SARA and ORD from Mymensingh and SATU from Tangail district. Data were collected for the period 2004-2005 and most analyses were done by using tables and flow chart to determine production and marketing system of fish seed.

Sustainable livelihood approach of prawn production and marketing systems in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

An investigation was carried out in Phulpur upazila, Mymensingh to examine the current production practices of freshwater giant prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii and its marketing systems with sustainable livelihood approach. The livelihoods of a considerable number of rural poor are associated with prawn production in Phulpur upazila. Based on a sample of 50 farmers, about 94% farmers were found to culture prawn with fish in their ponds. Only 4% and 2% farmers were found to culture prawn-fish-dike crops and only prawn respectively. Prawn marketing is almost exclusively a preserve of the private sector where the livelihoods of a large number of people are associated with its distribution and marketing systems. The market chain from producers to consumers passes through a number of intermediaries. About 40% of the produced prawns are exported and the rest 60% are sold to local markets. The price of prawn depends on quality, size and weight. The average farm-gate price of prawn varied from Tk. 110 to 160/kg, whereas it's [sic] market price varied from Tk. 150 to 350/kg. Most of the farmers and traders have improved their socio-economic conditions through prawn farming and marketing activities. However, concerns arise about the long-term sustainability of prawn farming and marketing systems due to lack of technical knowledge of prawn farming, poor road and transport facilities, higher transport cost, poor supply of ice, lack of cash and credit facilities. It is therefore essential to provide institutional and organizational support and credit facilities for sustainable prawn production and marketing systems.

Livelihood and seed mortality related vulnerability of carp seed traders of Bangladesh

Carp seed traders in Bangladesh are considered as one of the poorest, most vulnerable and least studied sub-population. Millions of fingerlings are transported annually to various parts of the country using bus tops and/or truck-beds in open and hand agitated method by the traders and as a result they encounter mass seed mortality. They are the key players in augmenting aquaculture activities by distributing fish fry and fingerlings to the fish farmers. Assessment of the seed sources and the livelihood of the traders are important to identify their point of entry to the aquaculture sector and further improvement. Status of household asset, income profiles, and risks involved were examined using DFID's sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) framework. Tools used to collect data included group discussions (GD), semi-structured and structured household (HH) survey. Samples (n=637) were randomly drawn purposefully from 10% of the carp seed traders within 11 districts. Sampled HH were classified into six land classes.

Adoption, productivity and profitability of rice-fish and fingerling culture in three selected districts of Bangladesh

The study aimed to investigate the productivity and profitability of rice-fish farming. It also determined the factors affecting rice-fish and fingerling production in Bangladesh. Among the total respondents about 55% were involved in rice-fish farming, 37% in pond fish culture and rest 9% in fish nursery. Integrated rice-fish farming contributed about 83% of the annual farm income in Comilla while it was about 20% in both Kishoregonj and Chandpur districts. Among the different farming systems integrated rice-fish culture and rearing fingerlings in the nursery pond were more profitable at the farm level. Farmers earned a net return of Tk. 49,714/ha from integrated fish culture with boro rice while the net return of boro rice-alone was only Tk. 11,179/ha. This indicated that farmer could earn 218% higher net return from integrated rice-fish farming than that of boro rice only farming. Moreover, integrated rice-fish culture also reduced pesticides cost to about 77% and weeding cost to about 51% in boro season. Fingerling nursing earned highest net returns among the three technologies.

Factors affecting the adoption of carp polyculture in Bangladesh

A study was conducted to determine the factors affecting adoption of pond polyculture in six villages of three districts namely Mymensingh, Bogra and Narshingdi in Bangladesh. In Mymensingh, 75% pond owners adopted carp polyculture technology whereas in Bogra and Narshingdi only 16% and 25% pond owners, respectively adopted this technology for fish production. The production of fish per unit area was found to be 5 to 10 times higher in Mymensingh compared to that of Bogra and Narshingdi. Fish farmers identified three main problems affecting the adoption of pond polyculture viz. lack of input used in aquaculture, low fish yield and lack of credit facilities for pond polyculture. The technological awareness of the farmers directly contributed towards use of inputs in culture ponds. The positive impact of technological dissemination found on input use, fish yield and uplifted socioeconomic condition.

Suitable sites for sustainable aquaculture development in Mymensingh, Bangladesh: A GIS methodological perspective

A GIS study was carried out to find out the sites suitable for aquaculture in Mymensingh region. A number of criteria were selected for GIS modeling followed by the approach of Kapetsky (1994). The criteria were developed from a range of existing data sources such as, surface and underground water level, availability of feed ingredients and animal wastes, sources of fish fry, market facilities, extension support and communication facilities for aquaculture development. The data were located, collected and compiled from different GOs and NGOs located in the region along with primary data from the field survey wherever necessary and then prepared for computer analyses. Using the database, a series of GIS models were developed in order to ascertain and prioritize the most suitable areas for aquaculture development in the region. Out of total 407,528 ha available lands in the region, the study identified 99,415 ha very suitable and 302,754 ha moderately suitable for aquaculture promotion. Result of the study is indicative to the modeling power of GIS for aquaculture application and could be used to refine the models in future, particularly if it is supported with further detail field data. To get a more concrete and complete model, detailed study should be made available on the availability of mustard oil cake, rice bran, wheat bran, and usable animal and urban wastes that could be used as low-cost feed for sustainable aquaculture.

Health and disease status of Thai pangas, Pangasius hypophthalmus cultured in rural ponds of Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Thai pangas, Pangasius hypophthalmus is one of the important aquaculture species in Bangladesh. Over the last few years spectacular development has been taking place in Thai pangas farming in Mymensingh district. Due to availability of easy breeding and culture techniques as well as quick return, more and more people are converting their rice fields into pangas farms overnight. The present study was carried out to examine health and disease status of Thai pangas mainly through clinical, histopathological and bacteriological techniques. In addition, for collecting primary data on disease and health status of Thai pangas and the resultant socioeconomic impacts on rural households, questionnaire interview and participatory rural appraisal tools were used with selected farming households in three upazilas of Mymensingh district. The most prevalent diseases as reported by the farmers were red spot, followed by anal protrusion, tail and fin rot, pop eye, dropsy and gill rot. Other conditions like cotton wool type lesion, ulceration and white spot were reported but with lower incidence. Four isolates of Aeromonas hydrophila were recovered from kidney and lesion of diseased fish. Hemorrhage over the body especially near mouth and caudal region was noticed in the fishes associated with aeromonad infection. Internally, kidney, liver and spleen became swollen and enlarged. The isolates varied with their pathogenicity. All the four isolates were sensitive to Nitrofurantoin, Cotrimoxazole and Tetracycline but were resistant to Amoxycilline. An attempt was made to treat diseased fish with extracts from neem leaf, garlic and turmeric. Recovery of infection was monitored through mortality and histopathology. General histopathological changes of different organs were also studied. Extract from neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf gave better result. Telangiectasis, lamellar hypertrophy and hyperplasia hemorrhage, lamellar fusion, necrosis of lamellar epithelial cells, presence of parasites and their cysts were the major pathology of gills. Hemorrhagic lesion, pyknotic nuclei and melanomacrophage centers (MMC) were found in the liver of fish. Major pathologies in kidney of fish included presence of MMC, necrotic and ruptured kidney tubules, severe haemopoietic necrosis, and hemorrhage. The economic loss due to disease in Thai pangas farming was estimated from the difference between expected production and actual production. On an average, Thai pangas farmers of Mymensingh incur a loss of Tk. 23,104/ha/cycle due to fish disease (3.6% of expected total production). The loss, however, varied with location and size of farms, type of farmers and management practices. The study also highlighted fish health management related problems and recommended further work for the development of user-friendly farmer-oriented fish health management packages.

Demonstration of some selected aquaculture technologies under farming system research in Jessore and Santahar, Bangladesh

BFRI evolved some selected aquaculture technologies viz. polyculture of carps in perennial ponds, monoculture of short cycled fish species (BFRI super strain) in seasonal ponds and prawn seed production through backyard hatchery system have been demonstrated under Farming System Research (FSR) component in Jessore and Santahar regions. Both polyculture of carps and monoculture of short cycled fish species technologies were tested in farmer's ponds in Kaium Kula village near Jessore town. In polyculture trials, seven species comprising of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molirrix), catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), mrigal (Cirrhinus cirrhosus) and silver barb (Barbonymus gonionotus) were stocked @ 9,500 (ratio 6:2:4:2:1:5:5); 10,750 (ratio 6:2:4:2:1:5:5) and 12,000 (ratio 6:2:4:2:1:5:4) fish/ha respectively in ponds of T1, T2 and T3 having three replications of each. The mean highest fish production was 3,148 kg/ha in T3, followed by 2,899 kg/ha in T1 and 2,875 kg/ha in T2. Production of T3 was significantly different (P<0.05) than both T1 and T2, while there was no significant differences (P>0.05) between the production of T1 and T2. In case of trial of short cycled fish species, two treatments were tested: T1 (comprising of BFRI super strain of Nile tilapia, silver carp, common carp and silver barb; ratio 3:5:1:1) and T2 (having only BFRI super strain of Nile tilapia). Stocking density in both the treatments were same (20,000 fish/ha). In this trial average production was higher in T1 (2,743 kg/ha) than that of T2 (2,369 kg/ha) but the production figure in these two treatments was not significantly different (P>0.05). Demonstration of backyard prawn hatchery technology was tested at Santahar region of Bogra district, North-west part of Bangladesh. This hatchery consisted of three main components i) bio-filter, ii) rearing tank unit (chari) and iii) air blower/air pump unit. Plastic drum of 200-250 l capacity and cemented chari of 200-250 l capacity were used as bio-filter and larval rearing containers respectively. A 0.5 hp air blower with 6 aquarium air pump were used to operate the aeration system in the hatchery. Diluted sea water (10-12 ppt) made from brine solution (200-250 ppt) collected from salt-bed was used in the backyard hatchery system of hatching of eggs and rearing of larvae. Rearing of first stage zoea-larvae was reared in three rearing tanks following the stocking densities of 40, 50 and 60/l of water respectively. Production of post-larvae were 20±0.82, 22±1.12 and 28±1.63/liter of water in treatments I, II and III respectively in 38, 40 and 39 days rearing period.

Production of freshwater giant prawn using over-wintered juveniles for enhancement of farm income and reduction of rural poverty in Bangladesh

Freshwater giant prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii fry produced during late season can not withstand low temperature thus the prawn culture programme during winter is hampered. To overcome this problem, late season (August-September) prawn juveniles (0.9-6.8 g) were stocked at a density of 1.43 to 3.57/square meter in 350-476 square-meter ponds in Pabna and Mymensingh districts during October 2000 and cultured till May 2001. Monthly average water temperature during the winter months (December-February) varied from 16 to 22 °C and gradually increased to 32 °C in May. The prawn fry showed fast growth rate and attained an average weight of 60-70 g within eight months including three winter months. Growth compensation was observed during summer months. Survival rate was 60-79%. After extrapolation of the present growth rate more than 1,600 kg/ha production can be achieved in better-managed ponds. Extrapolated cost of production was Tk. 268,000 and 200,000 Tk./ha in two best ponds, sale value was Tk. 644,9146 [sic] and 528,466 and gross profit was Tk. 376,000-410,000, suggesting a higher economic feasibility of farming freshwater prawn with over-wintered juveniles.

Nursery management system of stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis and walking catfish, Clarias batrachus in Bangladesh

A total of four experiments were conducted to develop nursery management system for the two important native catfishes viz. stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis and walking catfish, Clarias batrachus during 2003 and 2004. Two experiments were conducted in on-station condition to determine stocking density efficacy in hapa and in earthen mini ponds for H. fossilis. This was followed by on-farm trial on stocking density in earthen mini ponds. In hapa, the highest survival rate was 60% for H. fosssilis at stocking density of 100/square meter; followed by 54.5 and 50% at stocking densities of 150 and 200/square meter, respectively. Similarly, gain in weight and length was also better in lower stocking densities. Similar survival rate (45 to 55%) was observed in three densities in earthen mini ponds. However, gain in weight and length showed no significant (p<0.05) differences. H. fossilis, C. batrachus showed almost similar survival rates (57.5-59.0%) in all the three stocking densities (100, 150 and 200/square meter) in earthen mini ponds in on-station condition. In terms of gain in weight and length showed no significant (p<0.05) differences in pond conditions. Almost similar result was obtained in terms of growth and survival in on-farm condition.

Status and prospects of mackerel and tuna fishery in Bangladesh

Present status and future prospects of mackerel and tuna fisheries in Bangladesh were assessed during July 2003-June 2004. The work concentrated on the fishing gears, length of fishes, total landings and market price of the catch and highlighted the prospects of the fishery in Bangladesh. Four commercially important species of mackerels and tuna viz. Scomberomorus guttatus, Scomberomorus commerson, Rastrelliger kanagurta, and Euthynnus affinis were included in the study. About 95% of mackerels and tuna were caught by drift gill nets and the rest were caught by long lines (4%) and marine set-bag-net (1%). Average monthly total landing of mackerels and tunas was about 264 t, of which 147 t landed in Cox's Bazar and 117 t in Chittagong sites. Total catches of the four species in Cox's Bazar and Chittagong sites were found to be 956 and 762 t, respectively. The poor landing was observed during January-February and the peak landing was in November and July. Gross market value of the annual landing of mackerels and tunas (1,718 t) was found to be 1,392 latch taka. Nevertheless, the mackerel and tuna fisheries in Bangladesh are increasingly contributing to the marine fish production of the country and have very good potential for further expansion for both domestic and export market.