Culture of hilsa, Tenualosa ilisha in freshwater ponds: Progress and prospects in farming practice

Hilsa are a highly favoured food fish on the Indian subcontinent, but wild populations have been declining very fast due to over exploitation and disturbance of their riverine spawning grounds. Hilsa have a complex life cycle, migrating from the sea to riverine environments to spawn and are very sensitive to handling, which has complicated efforts to breed them in captivity. 

The ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture has initiated a programme to domesticate hilsa to reduce dependence on wild catch. This article documents the first successful approaches to rear larvae through to table sized fish and to develop mature hilsa broodstock in a farm environment.

1675432226_culture-of-hilsa-tenualosa-ilisha-in-freshwater-ponds.pdf

Publisher: Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific

Rights: Creative Commons Attribution.

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Aquaculture Asia Magazine, January-March 2023

In this issue:

Augmenting entrepreneurial attitude among tribal women of Jharkhand through a skill development programme in fish value added products; Culture of hilsa, Tenualosa ilisha in freshwater ponds: Progress and prospects in farming practice; Present status of medium-saline ‘bheri’ fishery and integrated mangrove aquaculture in West Bengal, India: A short study, Part I; Information for farmers on yellow tail catfish, Pangasius pangasius, for easier captive production; Captive breeding and larval rearing of Cirrhinus reba, a small indigenous fish of aquaculture importance; NACA Newsletter.