Fish farming in cages spreading out

A new form of fish farming, known as cage culture, is expanding in flowing water of rivers and canals in various parts of the country, raising hopes for an increased production of fish.

Fishes, mostly tilapia, are now farmed in nearly 6,000 cages in rivers where such farming did not exist even a decade ago.

The practice, under which fishes are grown in mesh enclosures, has expanded as farmers have found it to be profitable because of the scope to grow a higher quantity of fishes in cages compared to ponds, according to fisheries officials, farmers and researchers.

Consequently, the fisheries and livestock ministry is working to frame a policy on cage culture in inland water, which remains untapped despite the huge potential to augment production of fish.

“We have taken an initiative to frame a policy to ensure organised expansion of the cage-based farming,” said Syed Arif Azad, director-general of the Department of Fisheries (DoF).

He stated cages are being constructed in rivers in a scattered manner and roles and duties of stakeholders are no longer clear.

“The land ministry is the owner of the rivers whilst we grow fish. The personal zone is additionally involved,” he said.

Bangladesh has 8.53 lakh hectare areas of rivers and estuaries, and public water bodies signify lakes and swamps, in accordance to the DoF.

Fisheries officials said cage way of life cannot only enlarge the normal production however also increase the contribution of open water bodies to the annual manufacturing of fishes.

Some 27 percentage of the 38.78 lakh tonnes of fishes were produced in open water bodies in 2015-16. Aquaculture accounted for 56 percentage of the total fish output in the year, according to the DoF.

Officials stated cage culture is practised in many countries in Asia, Europe, and North America. Bangladesh saw the beginning of the farming in the 1990s, according to Azad.

“New applied sciences of fish farming are coming up. We can’t hold our water pool like rivers idle,” he said.

The draft policy stated cage way of life is no longer flourishing as expected in absence of legally supported user rights to develop fish in flowing water, additionally depriving the authorities of revenues.

The draft coverage seeks to encompass all flowing rivers and water our bodies that are suitable for cage culture. It said involved human beings will have to apply to an upazila committee stating the title and location of the water body where they choose to do cage culture.

A committee headed by means of the deputy commissioner will pick out the profitable candidates based on the hints of the upazila committee, according to the draft.

The draft policy said cages should be constructed in an place having 10-feet depth and cages should be three foot above the backside of the river.

Some 10-15 percentage of the water bodies in the u . s . a . can be used for cage way of life if floating feed is used. On the different hand, cages could be mounted on 5 percentage region of a river if sinking fish feed is used, according to the policy.

Mosharef Hossain Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Cage Culture Association, said cage tradition in a flowing river is extra profitable than farming in ponds.

“This is because of the leverage to grow more fish in cages than in ponds,” he said.

A 200-square-feet cage can yield seven-hundred fishes compared a hundred and fifty fishes in the equal location in ponds, according to Chowdhury.

Chowdhury started out growing tilapia fish in 15 cages in the Dakatia river in Chandpur in 2008. Encouraged by using excessive margins, he went on to amplify the variety of cages to 150 cages at one point.

He, however, decreased the number of cages to forty in the face of soaring costs of feed, rising movement of vessels and oil spill from the vessels plying on the river.

He said the rising costs of feed have put farmers in a tight spot as prices of fishes, in particular tilapia, have not long gone up due to the fact of the extend of manufacturing and supply of different fishes.

Chowdhury stated a coverage on cage tradition would yield a proper result, as there is still a massive probability in Bangladesh.

Md Asadul Baqui, district fisheries officer in Chandpur, also said the wide variety of cages had risen quicker when the farming technique was once introduced. Later, the growth slowed owing to the rising expenditures of feed. “Many bad farmers had to end due to the fact of the excessive expenditures of feed,” he said.

Chandpur is one of the pioneering districts in cage lifestyle in the country.

Prof Md Anwarul Islam, a former vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Agricultural University, said the cage way of life may want to be a practical solution to improve fish production as land is scarce to make ponds for aquaculture.

Citing his experience, he said, throughout winter, fishes develop nicely in rivers due to the fact of higher temperature compared to that of in ponds.

The farming of fish in cages is not without environmental concern.

Islam said water quality of rivers can deteriorate if cages are put in region miles after miles. This can take place in the rivers that have low depth and gradual glide of water. “Biodiversity of rivers and its water high-quality would now not be affected if cages are installed in a planned manner,” he said.

Another challenge is rivers are a primary supply of different types of fishes, but all fishes are no longer appropriate for cage culture. “Farmers will incur losses unless cage cultures are extended without discovering applicable technology and workforce,” said Islam.

Md Abdul Matin, customary secretary of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, said the water waft in rivers would be sluggish due to the fact of the obstruction imposed by using placing up of a large quantity of cages.

River water is probably to be polluted if a chemical feed is used. Also, there is a opportunity of setting up constructions centring cages, he said.

In order to tackle the environmental concerns, the DoF plans to allow cage lifestyle in positive areas of a river, now not in the complete river.

“We will examine the influence if we get a idea for a giant project,” stated Azad, of the DoF, adding that the draft policy would be posted on the DoF’s internet site for feedbacks.