COMPOSITE FISH

CULTURE

Dr. U.P.Singh
College of Fisheries
G.B. Pant Univ. of Ag. &
Tech. Pantnagar
 Composite fish culture

Composite fish culture, which was developed at

the Central Inland Fisheries Research Sub-station
at Cuttack in the mid-sixties, has come a long way.

In a pond, the surface is occupied by floating

organisms like plankton, the column region with live
and dead organic matter sunk from the surface and
the bottom with detritus or dead organic matter.
 The different trophic levels of a pond can be
utilized for increasing the profitability of fish
culture.

 Composite fish culture is a polyculture system in

which compatible fishes of different species
having different feeding habits are selected and
grown in the pond to exploit all types of food
available in the different regions of the pond for
maximizing fish production.

 The aquatic vegetation, plankton, decayed

organisms and other debris available in the
surface, middle and bottom water layers are
utilized as feed by the stocked surface, middle
and bottom dwelling fishes.
 This technology enables to get maximum fish
production from a pond or a tank through
utilization of available fish food organisms in all
the natural niches, supplemented by artificial
feeding.

 Any perennial fresh water pond/tank retaining

water depth of 2 metres can be used for fish
culture purpose. However, the minimum level
should not fall below one metre.
Fish species involved in composite
fish culture

 Depending on the compatibility and type of

feeding habits of the fishes, the following types
of fishes of Indian as well as Exotic varieties
have been identified and recommended for
culture in the composite fish culture technology.
 Species Feeding habit- Feeding zone

Indian Major Carp

 Catla Zooplankton feeder Surface feeder
 Rohu Omnivorous Column feeder
 Mrigal Detritivorous Bottom feeder

Exotic carps
 Silver carp Phytoplankton feeder Surface feeder
 Grass carp Herbivorous Surface, column and
marginal areas
 Common carp Detritivorous/ Bottom feeder
Omnivorous
 Labeo rohita

Catla catla

Cirrhinus mrigala
Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Ctenopharyngodon idella) –

Cyprinus carpio
.

Cyprinus Carpio Cyprinus Carpio var. nudus - Leather Carp

Cyprinus Carpio var. specularis -Mirror Carp. Cyprinus Carpio var. Communis - Scale
Carp
 Potential
 The area under tanks and ponds available
for warm fresh water aquaculture is estimated to
be 2.85 million ha.

 In addition 0.78 million ha of swamps,

bheels, etc. and low lying water logged area not
good for agriculture as also any agriculture land
can be converted for fish farming.

 Out of the total inland fish production around

60% is contributed by the culture sector.
 The average productivity from ponds at present
is to the tune of 2160 kg/ha/year. This shows the
tremendous scope for fish culture in the country.

 The area of 4.56 lakh ha brought under scientific

fish culture by 1997-98 is only 16% of the
potential area of tanks and ponds available for
development showing immense possibilities for
horizontal expansion of composite fish culture.
 Technical parameters that needs to be considered for
Composite Fish Culture project are as follows :

1. Selection of Pond
 The main criteria to be kept in mind while selecting the
pondis that the soil should be water retentive, adequate
supply of water is assured and that the pond is not in a
flood prone area.

 Derelict, semiderelict or swampy ponds can be renovated

for fish culture by dewatering, desilting, repair of the
embankments and provision of inlet and outlet.

 The pond may be owned by the individual or taken on

lease in which case the lease period should be more or
coterminous with the repayment period.
 The eligible items of pond development are as
follows:

i) Desilting of existing ponds

ii) Deepening of shallow ponds.
iii) Excavation of new ponds.
iv) Impoundment of marginal areas of water bodies.
v) Construction / repairs of Embankments.
vi) Construction of Inlets / Outlets.
vii) Any other item like civil structures, watchmen huts,
water supply arrangements / electricity supply
arrangements etc. depending on requirements of the
project based on its size etc.
Drying of pond
 2. Pond Management

 Pond Management plays a very important

role in fish farming before and after the
stocking of fish seed.

 Various measures that are required to be

undertaken in pre and post stocking
practices are tabulated below.
 A) PRE STOCKING MANAGEMENT
 In case of new ponds, prestocking operations starts with
liming and filling of the pond with water. However, the first
step for existing pond requiring development deals with
clearing the pond of unwanted weeds and fishes either by
manual, mechanical or chemical means. Different methods
are employed for this are-

i) Removal of weeds by Manual/Mechanical or through

Chemical means.

ii) Removal of unwanted and predatory fishes and other

animals by repeated netting or using mahua oil cake @ 2500
kg/ha metre or by sun drying the pond bed.
Hand tools Used for Manual Control of
Aquatic Weeds
Poison Dose (kg/ha/m)
Bleaching powder 350 – 500

Mahua oil cake 2500

Anhydrous ammonia 20 – 30

Tea seed cake (Camellia sinensis) 750

 iii) Liming - The tanks which are acidic in nature
are less productive than alkaline ponds.

 Lime is used to bring the pH to the desired level.

In addition lime also has the following effects –

a) Increases the pH.

b) Acts as buffer and avoids fluctuations of pH.
c) It increases the resistance of soil to parasites.
d) Its toxic effect kills the parasites; and
e) It hastens organic decomposition.
Liming
 Limestone ( CaCO3) is used
 Quantity based on pH of water
Liming
iv) Fertilization :
Fertilization of the pond is an important means of
intensifying fish culture by increasing the natural
productivity of the pond.

The fertilizer programme has to be suitably

modified depending on the growth of the fish,
available food reserve in the pond, physico
chemical conditions of the pond and climatic
conditions.
a) Organic
b) Inorganic:
Organic Fertilizers Any manure produced by organism
or animal is called organic manure e.g. cow dung or
poultry litter. Such manure contains many elements of
which nitrogen and phosphorous are most important to
produce organisms in the pond water.

In organic Fertilizers –
These are simple inorganic compounds which primarily
contain at least one or more elements of NPK. Due to
their high solubility in water the nutrients become readily
available soon after their application. As the inorganic
fertilizer contains nitrogen and phosphorous in
concentrated form, so they are used in less quantity than
the organic manure.

A combination of both Organic and Inorganic fertilizers

may be used for best results.
Manuring
 B) STOCKING MANAGEMENT

 The pond will be ready for stocking after 15 days

of application of fertilizers.

 Fish fingerlings of 10 cm size (approx) should be

used for stocking @ 5000 nos. per hectare.
However if fingerlings of smaller size are used,
suitable allowance may be made accounting for
mortality.

 Depending on availability of seed and market

condition, stocking can be of 3, 4 or 6 species
combination in the following ratio.
 Species combination (ratio)

 Species 3-species 4-species 6-species

Catla 4.0 3.0 1.5

Rohu 3.0 3.0 2.0
Mrigal 3.0 2.0 1.5
Silver Carp - - 1.5
Grass Carp - - 1.5
Common Carp - 2.0 2.0
 Method of stocking
 Stocking of spawn, fry and fingerlings should be done
very carefully to avoid any post-stocking mortality due to
shock or infections.

 To minimize post-stocking mortality the fry/fingerlings

should be slowly and gradually acclimatized to the
temperature and quality of the water in the stocking
pond.

 To do so, open the mouth of the seed transport

bag/container and gradually add the pond water in
phases and after 15–20 minutes slowly dip and tilt the
bag/container in the pond so that the
spawn/fry/fingerlings are free to swim out. Stocking
should preferably be done in the cool evening hours.
C) POST-STOCKING MANAGEMENT

Post-stocking management involves

harnessing the pond productivity in the
form of natural fish food, maintenance of
pond environment congenial to the
cultivated fish and fish husbandry, mainly
feeding and health care.
 Feeding
 Soon after stocking, the fish start grazing natural food
available in the pond irrespective of their stage of life
cycle.

 Spawn feeds voraciously on plankton. Therefore,

immediate steps must be taken for providing
supplementary feed.

 In the case of nursery ponds where spawn are reared for

about a fortnight up to fry stage, supplementary feed is
broadcast on the pond surface in the form of fine powder
daily in the morning hours at prescribed rates.
 Supplementary feeding
 Fishes need much more food than what is
available naturally in the pond.

 Fishes can be fed with a mixture of bran and

oilcake in equal quantities daily.

 The feed should be placed on a bamboo tray and

lowered to the pond bottom or it can be sprayed
at the corners.

 After some time the fishes will get used to this

type of feeding and aggregate at the same place
at particular time.
Supplementary feeding
 Rates of daily supplementary feeding at
various stages of culture
Stage Daily feeding rate

Spawn to fry 4–8 times of the initial body weight

Fry to fingerlings 4-8 times the initial body weight

(twice a day)

Growers 2 – 3% of body weight

Brood fish 2 –3% of body weight

 Fertilization
 Periodic fertilization, which ensures replenishment of
nutrients and consolidation of the energy base for
microbial decomposition activities.

 Lime should be applied first followed by the organic

manure and finally the inorganic fertilizers.

 These fertilizers should be applied only when the physical

conditions of the water are most suitable.

 Inorganic fertilization may be done at monthly intervals

alternating with organic manuring.

 It should be ensured that excess fertilization does not take

place, which may result in bloom/swarms
 Aeration
Aeration is a mechanical process of bringing the water in
intimate contact with air, with an aim of adding oxygen to
water. More simply, aeration is the addition of oxygen to
water.

Dissolved oxygen content (DO) is probably the single most

important environmental factor to limit production in closed
or semi-closed aquaculture systems.

This limitation stems from the relatively high oxygen

demand imposed by aerobic organisms within the system,
relatively low solubility of oxygen in water and deliberate
reduction of two natural sources of DO – photosynthesis
and freshwater exchange.
 Harvesting
 Growth rate of the fish, market demand, desired market
size, availability of seed and pond condition, are the major
considerations for deciding on the time of harvesting.

Complete harvesting
 Usually the carp species attain marketable size within one
year and hence the shorter rearing period of less than a
year is not recommended unless there is an exceptional
threat of flood or outbreak of disease, or for financial
reasons.

Partial harvesting
 Possibility of partial harvesting very much depends on the
availability of fingerlings of desired carp species.
 In such cases the fish already reached the
marketable size should be harvested and the
stock should be replenished.

 Usually fish over 500 g should be harvested every

3–4 months with simultaneous stocking with
fingerlings.

 Such partial harvesting programme should be

synchronized with peak market demands
depending on seasons, festivals, etc.
Harvesting
Harvesting fish from ponds with
an internal harvesting sump
Harvesting fish using a brailer

Harvesting salmon from net cages

3) Vertical expansion of fish culture

 A number of measures are now being employed by the

entrepreneurs to increase the per hectare production of
fish.

 Important measures adopted are stocking of Yearlings

by stunning the growth of fish seed during first year,
heavy stocking and multiple harvesting after the fishes
attain a size of 500 gms.,

 Multiple stocking and multiple harvesting, use of

aerators, integrated fish farming with animal husbandry
activities like dairy, poultry, piggery or duckery to get
daily organic manuring to the pond thus increasing its
fertility
Economics of composite
fish culture
S.No. Items Quantity Rate Amount
(Rs.) (Rs.)
A. Expenses
1. Lease amount of One 12000 12000
pond (ha)
2. Pond repairs One 12000 12000
depreciated cost
(ha)
3. Water charges (ha) One 6000 6000
4. Liming (kg) 250 3.00 750
5. Raw cattle dung (kg) 10,000 0.50 5000
6. Single super 500 3.00 1500
phosphate (kg)
7. Urea (kg) 250 5.00 1250
8. Fish seed 20,000 90/1000 1800
9. Supplementary feed (kg) 2000 5.0 10,000

10. Growth promoters and premix, 15,000

labour charges, - - -
contingency - - -
TOTAL 65300
B. Income
Production of fish (kg) 4200 40 168000

C. Net profit (B-A) 102700