Kooththenkuzhi housing around 300 fiberglass country boats will soon have open sea cage fish farming facility to improve the living standards and economical status of fishermen by increasing seafood production thanks to the efforts of Collector V. Vishnu. ‘Open Sea Cage’ culture involves growing fishes in the sea in natural conditions while being enclosed in a net cage which allows the free flow of seawater into the cage. It is a fish production system comprising a floating frame of varying dimensions and shape, net materials and mooring system to hold and culture a large number of fishes.
When this open sea cage culture was introduced in Chippikulam near Thoothukudi a few years ago after the local fishermen, the stakeholders of this scheme, were trained by Thoothukudi-based Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), it paid rich dividends to the beneficiaries. Hence, Mr. Vishnu, who planned to introduce this venture in a coastal hamlet of Tirunelveli district, persuaded NABARD to fund this programme. Subsequently, NABARD has released Rs. 8.76 lakh for ‘Promotion of open sea cage culture for betterment of livelihood of fishermen community in Tirunelveli district’ and this programme will be implemented by Vidiyel Trust, a non-governmental organisation in Vilaathikulam in Thoothukudi district, at Kooththenkuzhi.
Earlier, with the guidance of CMFRI, Thoothukudi, preliminary works like formation of fishermen group, capacity building, exposure visit, fixing of a geo reference suitable site to land the cage etc. were already done for sea cage culture at Kooththenkuzhi. Subsequently, ‘Vidiyel Trust’ re-organized the ‘Annai Velankanni Matha Fishermen Group’ of Kooththenkuzhi with 30 beneficiaries, of which 10 members will be the joint owners of this venture and the rest will be engaged in other miscellaneous jobs like feeding, marketing etc.
CMFRI, Thoothukudi is now imparting comprehensive skill development training program to the beneficiaries on open sea cage culture methods and its related activities like seed selection, feeding, cage management, stocking etc. After undergoing technical training sessions, the beneficiaries are now busy preparing the cage with the guidance of a Varanasi-based company.
“The fishermen group will be engaged in fixing the nets and mooring the system in the sea, stock the cages with fish seed, feeding the fish seed at regular intervals, cleaning and changing of the nets as and when required and daily monitoring of the fish growth,” Mr. Vishnu told ‘The Hindu’. The species selected for this venture is Sea Bass (Koduva) as it is successfully practiced in many Asian countries. About 1,000 seeds of Sea Bass are planned to be transported from Rajiv Gandhi Aquaculture Centre (RGCA), Pazhiyur near Thiruvananthapuram. The fingerlings weighing around 40 gram (10 cm length) will be put in the cage to weigh two to three kilograms within 6 or 7 months.
According to CMFRI officials, harvest from each cage will be up to 2 tonnes of fishes in one season and it commanded a farm gate price of Rs. 300 to 320 per kg. “Successive harvests will bring more income to the group members. So, it will be a maiden effort to enthuse fishermen to take up Sea Cage farming as an alternative livelihood in a big way. This sustainable project is to be launched on December 23,” Mr. Vishnu said.