The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (MoFAH&D) on March 20, 2024, issued the Guidelines for regulating coastal aquaculture.
The following has been stated:
• Construction and preparation of coastal aquaculture farm
o Proper designing and construction of farms are essential for their efficient management and for promoting environmental protection.
o Good site selection and incorporation of mitigatory features in the farm design are the best ways to avoid problems related to flood levels, storms, erosion, seepage, water intake and discharge points.
o A site-specific approach to the design and construction of coastal aquaculture farms is necessary, as site characteristics vary greatly from place to place.
• Feed and feed management
o Careful feed management is essential for successful farming and by using good quality feed in reasonable quantities, water and soil quality in ponds remains in optimum conditions which in turn reduces stress on farmed species, and incidence of disease, improves feed conversion ratio and minimizes feed costs.
o Better water quality in ponds allows the minimum load of nutrients in waste water and reduces the possibility of environmental impacts in receiving water bodies.
o Farmers shall keep full records of daily feed schedules to enable assessment of the Feed Conversion Ratio, which shall be used to increase feeding efficiency and reduction in feed waste.
This notification will come into force from March 20, 2024.
[Notification No S.O. 1496(E)]
