Report on

Site Selection visit to Rameshwaram coast of Tamil Nadu for

Open Sea Cage culture (27th and 30th April, 2010)

In continuation of the site selection survey for Open Sea Cage

deployment, a team of NIOT comprising Dr. M. Vijaykumaran,
Consultant, Dr. G. Dharani, Scientist –D, Dr. R. Sendhil Kumar, P.S.-II
and Shri J. Santhanakumar, Technical Assistant undertook a field trip
along the Rameshwaram coast between 27th and 30th of April, 2010.

As decided by the team, five fishing villages namely 1.Olakuda, 2.Vada-

kadu, 3.Ariyankundu, 4.Nalupanai and 5.Villunditheertham of the
temple town of Rameshwaram were explored for carrying out the open
sea culture activity in view of Physical conditions of the sea, willingness
of the people, road accessibility to the site, etc.

All the above sites are situated in the Palk Bay region of the
Rameshwaram coast and blessed with similar physical conditions such
as clear and calm water, sandy or coralline bottom, protected from
strong currents and wave action, free from pollution. The maximum
near shore depth ranges between 2 and 4 meters. In all these villages,
women are engaged in sea weed raft culture in the near shore area of 1
to 2 meter depth. Fish traps are set by the fishermen at above 10-12 m
depth to collect reef fishes. The villages Vada-kadu, Villunditheertham
and Nalupanai are connected with proper roads.

As voiced by the fishermen, their income is getting slashed due to poor

fish catch and an alternative option to support their livelihood like sea
weed culture through which the fisherwomen are earning a handful for
the family by spending a few hours a day is the need of the hour. The
ideal season for any sea based activity in these areas is between

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February and October because of water clarity and calmness. Nearly
250 fishermen are engaged in trap fishing which lands undersized
fishes in large quantities and do not attract much price. Groupers,
Parrot fishes and rabbit fishes are the major contributors. The captured
fishes are graded into 3 categories such as <500g, 500 to 1000g and
above 1000g size. There is much variation in the price among these
size groups. They also informed that trash fishes can be arranged in
reasonable price round the year (approximately Rs. 6 to 10/kg).

1. Olakuda (9o 19’ 9.3” N; 79o 19’ 44.7” E):

This is the last fishing village in the
Palk Bay area bordering Gulf of
Mannar (GOM) area with nearly 300
fishermen families. Around 50
fishermen of this village are involved
in trap fishing and the women are
engaged in sea weed cultivation. This
village is located 5 km away from the Rameshwaram temple in the
northward direction and vehicles cannot reach the shore. The required
depth of 8 to 10m is available at a distance of 1.0 to 1.2 km from the
shore. The fishermen showed enthusiasm towards our activity and
there are a few youths who were trained in sea bass culture by CIBA
and are eager to start sea cage cultivation. Though, this site is not
having proper road access up to the shore the enthusiastic villagers
told that the path can be set right to bring the tractor up to the shore.

2. Vada-kadu (9o 19’ 16.8” N; 79o 17’

42.1” E):
This village has direct access up to the
shore with 250 fishermen families with

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similar physical conditions as that of Olakuda village. To access the
required depth of 8 to 10 m, we need to travel 2 km in the open sea
and the area is subject to the frequent trawl net operations. Small scale
hook and line fishing are also practiced in this area in addition to trap
fishing and sea weed culture.

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 3. Ariyankundu(9o 18’ 12.5” N; 79o 16’
21.3” E):
This fishing village doesn’t have direct
road access to the shore and a few shrimp
farms constructed close to the shore and
are in operation. This site is relatively
shallow compared to the other villages
surveyed and is not selected for open sea cage culture.

4. Nalupanai (Thankachi madam) (9o 17’ 31.3” N; 79o 14’ 23.7”

E):
Though the site is connected with a
road, the crab processing factory
located in the shore drains all its
wastes into the sea and pollutes
the near shore water. There are
some active youths who shown
enthusiasm about the activity. In this site frequent gill net operation for
crab capture and sea weed culture are practiced regularly.

5. Villunditheertham (9o 17’

33.4” N; 79o 15’ 42.2” E):
This is well connected by road
and is a tourist site due to the
presence of fresh water well
inside the sea. Our desired depth
range of 8 to 10m is little far from
this shore and the boat traffic of
this area is little high in this site.

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So far, 3 site suitability surveys have been carried out by the team and
the coastal states of Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu were
covered. The physicochemical conditions of the sites, the traditional
knowledge gathered from the fishermen and the past experience
gained from the fish culture experts provides the following inputs for
designing the strategy for finfish open sea cage culture.

a. The team has identified 3 places viz. Minnie bay of Port Blair,
Olakuda region of Tamil Nadu and Kothachathiram of Andhra
Pradesh coast as potential sites for open sea cage culture.
b. Prior to the mass scale culture, a trial fish fattening activity by
deploying smaller HDPE square cages at Olakuda region can be
conducted to know the practical difficulties involved in this
process.
c. For the trial culture 4 to 6 cages of 2.5 X 2.5X 3 m size will be
made and deployed in the 6m depth region of Olakuda fishing
village. The under sized fishes (< 500g) of grouper and parrot
fishes will be collected from the trap operating fishermen in this
region.
d. Prior to the onset of monsoon the trial cultures should be
completed. The trial cultures will be carried out with the
cooperation of local fishermen.
e. The under sized fishes will be maintained in cages up to 600g size
and fed with trash fishes.

Expected Challenges:
1. Except a few places most of the Indian seas are open seas and
rough in nature. The season between October and February for

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 east coast and June to August for west coast won’t be suitable for
any sea based activity due to the natural upwelling process.
2. Other than Sea bass, no other fish seeds are available in
commercial scale. The availability of sea bass seed is also
restricted to certain season and transporting the stockable seeds
(>50g) are very expensive and causing physical injuries to the
fishes.
3. Open sea cages are considered as obstacle/hindrance for trawl
and gill net operation.
4. There is no mass scale pellet feed production for marine finfishes
in the country.
5. There is no stable market in India for the sea basses less than 1kg
size and growing this 1kg size of sea bass will take more than 12
months.
6. Lack of sea leasing policy in the country makes the mass culture
of fishes difficult for private entrepreneurs.
7. The price variation in captured fishes are graded in to 3
categories based on its size and the price of the <500g is very
less when compared to >500g size.
8. There is no precedent for mass scale commercial culture of
marine fin fishes and the economics are not worked out for the
same.