INDIA - The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has successfully developed seed production technology of Indian pompano (Trachinotus mookalee), which has high commercial value both in domestic and international markets.

This is the fifth of its kind achievement made by the CMFRI after the institute developed seed production technology of cobia, silver pompano, orange spotted grouper and pink ear emperor. Indian pompano (locally known as Avoli Vatta) is the most suitable species for cage culture considering its fast growth rate, easy adaptability to culture conditions, quick acceptance of artificial feed, good meat quality and high consumer preference.

Breeding and seed production technology of the species was developed at the Visakhapatnam Regional Centre of CMFRI after two years of research. The technology was developed using a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS).

Indian pompano belongs to the Carangidae family, which is distributed in the Indo West Pacific region and is reported to be present in 15 different countries of the Asian continent. In India, the fish is reported from both the west and the east coasts. It is a marine fish with sporadic occurrences in bays and lagoons and the adult fishes prefer shallow coastal waters with rocky areas.

According to Dr A Gopalakrishnan, Director of CMFRI, this is the first report of successful mass scale seed production of Indian pompano in the world. “The achievement is a major breakthrough in Indian mariculture business which will help the farming community to use the hatchery produced seeds of Indian pompano for cage farming”, he said adding that mariculture activities would be diversified with CMFRI developing seed production technology of one more high value marine fish.

“By 2050, India should produce at least 10.5 million tons of marine fish to meet the growing seafood demand. India’s marine fish catch is only 3.63 million tons in 2016”, Dr Gopalakrishnan said, adding that CMFRI’s efforts on developing seed production technology of high value marine fish was part of this objective.